The Greatest Power
by CyberDracomon
Summary: My first fanfic, a 5-part adventure/romance epic. The original Digidestined return to the Digital World for a vacation, but stumble onto a new threat, as well as a few other surprises. Taiora and Mimato, but it's mainly Takari. Now includes special out ta
1. Chapter 1: Before The Return

The Greatest Power  
Chapter 1 -- Before The Return  
  
(Author's Note: This is a TK/Kari fic, but expect Tai/Sora and Matt/Mimi in there as well. It's definatly a romance fic, but it'll have plenty of action in there, too. This fanfic is set 4 years after the defeat of Apocalymon and writen before the second Digimon series came to America, so no characters or plots from that series are in this story. Also, so nobody has to fight to think of how they changed in looks, just imagine the TV characters taller and more mature looking, I wont make reference to their clothes so you can imagine them however you want, I thought that would make it easier on you.Last thing, all money in this fanfic is american, even if the storyline is based in japan, another attempt to make it easier on the readers.)  
  
"Hey, Tai, what's taking so long?!" Kari shouted, pounding on the bathroom door. Tai had been in there for at least an hour getting ready for a date with Sora that wouldn't start for another 2 hours. "You aren't the only one who needs to get ready, you know!" Kari added.  
  
"Hang on, Kari!" Tai shouted through the door. "I'm almost done, just gotta get my hair to stay put!" Kari knew that meant at least another half an hour, her brother's hair couldn't stay if you dropped a bomb on it. Kari decided to try and get ready as best she could in her room and started to walk down the hall to it. She was suppose to meet up with TK for one last trip to the local arcade before their big return to the Digiworld. The entire group had been away for almost two years now, ever since the oldest of them started entering high school hey haven't been able to go back. It used to be a monthly thing till the schoolwork got harder and everyone was in need of summer jobs.  
  
Kari entered her room and immediatly picked up a hair brush sitting on a vanity mirror near the door. She stood in front of it and stroked her short length brown hair with it. She never seemed to like it any other way, no matter how many ways she tried to put it, it just never seemed right. Kari finished brushing out all the tangles and knots in her hair when she heard a loud crash in the bathroom. That usually meant Tai got so frustraited over his wild hair that he knocked over everything. Kari set the hairbrush down and walked out to the bathroom to watch what happened next.  
  
The bathroom door opened and Tai fell out and onto the floor, his hair the exact same as when he went in, the way it had looked for as long as Kari could remember. "Your turn, sis..." Tai managed to get out before crawling back to his room in defeat. Kari laughed at the sight, then went into the bathroom to get ready. She went through the usual routine, washed face and hands, fixed hair, brushed teeth, until she felt ready. Kari was a lot faster in the bathroom than Tai, so soon she went back to her room to finish up. After spraying on a bit of perfume she got from TK on her last birthday, she looked over to the night stand near her bed and saw her tag and crest lying there. Kari walked over and picked it up, looking into the Crest of Light for a second before putting it on. It was just a replica of the original, since the real ones were destroyed, but it was still an importaint think to have for her. She couldn't help but wear it all the time, especially around TK since he always seemed to be wearing his crest, too. Almost as soon as the group had gotten back from beating Apocalymon, they all had replica crests made to remember the Digiworld with.  
  
"Hey, Kari!" Tai shouted from his room. "You know what I did with my crest?" Tai wore his crest too, but usually only on dates with Sora, which were often enough anyway. Kari could hear the sounds of thrown clothes and moved stuff from Tai's searching.  
  
"Um... have you tried around your neck?" Kari joked. She started to think of where Tai would lose his own crest when she realized the sound from his room suddenly stopped.   
  
"Uh... Thanks, Kari..." Tai said in a meak voice. Kari couldn't believe it, her joke had been dead on. She could almost see the look on Tai's face when he realized he had been wearing it already and couldn't help but laugh again. Tai popped out of his room suddenly, sporting all his usual clothes, from his blue shirt to the goggles on his forehead. "So how do I look? Tai asked his sister. He struck one of those "Tell me I look good even if I don't" poses, which never worked anyway.  
  
"Tai, you look the way you always do." Kari said. Tai looked down at himself and realized the same thing. "You spent all that time just to look like you do every day?" Kari said, laughing again.  
  
"Well I want to make sure everything's perfect, this might be the last normal date me and Sora might be on in a while." Tai tugged at his gloves, then at his goggles, trying to fit everything just right. Tai and Sora had been dating for a solid year now and the two were definatly in love. Kari had tried that whole year to see what was so big about being in love.  
  
"Tai, you look fine." Kari said, trying to reassure her brother. "Sora won't think any less of you if you went in my clothes." She was also trying to lighten him up a bit, something she was usually good at. Tai couldn't help but giggle a little.  
  
"Maybe you're right, I have been acting silly." Tai smiled. "Maybe next time I should just go in normal clothes and stop hogging the bathroom from now on." Kari was about to respond when both her and Tai heard their mom call from the fromt room.  
  
"Tai! Kari is due at TK's house in a little while, you'll need to take her down there soon." Tai and Kari exchanged glances before walking towards the door. On their way out, their mom handed Kari a ten dollar bill. "Now you behave at TK's house and don't stay at the arcade too long, you've got a big day tomorrow." Kari took the ten and put it in her pocket, then hugged her mom goodbye. The parents of the Digidestined knew about the Digital World now and knew their kids were in good hands there, so they didn't mind them visiting there, even for a long period of time. Tai headed out the door with Kari in tow. Since Tai couldn't drive by himself yet the two had to walk from their apartment to TK's house.  
  
Once the two got down to the street and were heading towards TK's house, Kari was tempted to ask a few things to Tai and after thinking about it, decided why not. "Hey Tai, can I ask you something?" Kari asked, looking up at her brother.  
  
"Sure, anything." Tai responded. "What's up?"  
  
"Well..." Kari started. She was unsure of how to ask at first. "Why have you and Sora been going out for so long? It seems like you two have a date every weekend." Tai was, to say the least, surprised by the question.  
  
"Well, um, I..." Tai wasn't sure what to say. *Is Kari interested in dating?* he kept thinking to himself. "Me and Sora are in love, Kari, we like spending a lot of time together. It's something older kids go through eventually." Tai couldn't help but think of Kari as a little kid, even if she was 12 now, older than when he first got his crush on Sora. "Why do you ask?" Tai couldn't help but see if Kari really was thinking about dating someone.  
  
"No reason, I guess." Kari answered. "It just seemed strange you spend so much time with her, that's all. It seemed kind of silly to me, I guess." This was a big relief for Tai. When he first dated Sora he was 14 and his mom argued about dating so young, he couldn't imagine how their mom would react to Kari dating. "C'mon, Tai!" Kari suddenly said, now ahead of Tai. "Gotta pick up the pace or we'll be late!" Kari was now at a slow running pace toward TK's house.  
  
"Kari, wait up!" Tai shouted, running to catch up with his little sister, now already a good distance ahead of him.  
  
**********  
  
At that same time, Izzy was sitting on a park bench, typing away on his familiar yellow labtop. Ever since their adventures in the Digital World came to an end, he seemed to work on his computer better outside and in the open. Izzy was busy with something he had started since the first days they were in the Digiworld. Namely, the letters on the inside wall of the Digivice's shrine where they met Centarumon. Even after all this time he still couldn't get it translated for some reason.  
  
"Hey, Izzy!" Izzy suddenly heard behind him, startling him. He looked behind him to see Joe and Mimi, staring at him like they had been watching him work for hours.  
  
"Hi Joe, hi Mimi!" Izzy said, still stunned a little. Joe was still wearing his old glasses since he complained about contacts itching him too much. Izzy was surprised to notice Mimi still hadn't gotten a replacement for the hat that fell off her head when they left the Digiworld, but the rest of her outfit didn't change, still pink from head to toe. Izzy noticed something else, as well. "Hey Mimi, where's Matt? I thought he'd be with you." Mimi suddenly got an angry look across her face.  
  
"Why would I be with that jerk?" Mimi replied harshly. "We got into a fight after he gave me that attitude of his! I just wanted to browse through a dress shop we passed as we were walking to the movie theater and he blew up!" Izzy and Joe felt like they had heard this story before, and actually they had. Mimi and Matt had been dating about 6 months now, but they were constantly getting into fights over one thing or another. If they were together and not fighting, though, you could easily tell how in love the two were.  
  
"Izzy, if you dont mind, I heard this story a few times too many today." Joe said. Mimi gave him an annoyed look before shaking it off and taking a seat on the bench Izzy was sitting on. "So what were you working on before you noticed us?" He asked Izzy, who was back to typing on his computer.  
  
"I'm trying to translate the characters and letters I discovered in the Digivice's temple." Izzy explained. "I believe it holds a secret we need to know about, especially if we're going back tomorrow." Izzy returned to his task quickly.  
  
"Oh no, not all that again!" Mimi complained, looking at the computer screen. She never let Izzy down for that incident in the temple maze 4 years back. "All this time and you still can't get that dumb wall figured out?!"  
  
"Mimi, calm down!" Izzy said nervously. "Outside the Digiworld, my computer doesn't know the characters as well, it takes a much longer time to..." Izzy stopped his explination when noticed he had just recieved an e-mail. A quick click on it and the familiar animation of Gennai walking across the bottom of his screen appeared.  
  
"Greetings, Digidestined!" Gennai said. Izzy realized an e-mail couldn't tell only three of them were present. "Since only three of you are there I'll make this brief." Izzy forgot Gennai's e-mails had a way of predicting situations. "I have found all of your Digimon companions and they will be on File Island, still with no knowledge of your return visit. The doorway to the Digital World that opens tomorrow should set you down right beside them, so be prepaired." Izzy, as well as Mimi and Joe, was surprised at how well Gennai was prepairing for their return. "I'll let you go now, the pizza guy just came by and I don't want the pizzas to get cold, farewell." The Gennai on the screen faded out as he said those last words.   
  
*Typical Gennai* Izzy thought to himself, shutting down his computer.   
  
"I can't wait to see Palmon again!" Mimi said suddenly. "I wonder if she's still got that hat I lose when we left..." Last time they were in the Digiworld Palmon had found the hat that fell off Mimi's head when they left four years ago. She was wearing it for shade last time she saw Mimi.  
  
"Well you'll find out tomorrow." Izzy said, getting up from the bench. "Just make sure you bring your Digivices and Crests, just in case. We've been gone a long time, there's no telling what's happened since we left." Joe suddenly looked nervous from Izzy's words.  
  
"Izzy, if you dont mind, this trip's get me on edge as it is." Joe said. "It's been years since I've even thought about an evil Digimon, now I might see or fight one?" Izzy dropped his head. He knew Joe would do something like that.  
  
"Relax, Joe!" Mimi said before Izzy could. "Even if we do, we'll have our Digimon with us, we're going to drop in right beside them, right Izzy?" Izzy quickly nodded in agreement, then looked down at his wristwatch.  
  
"Whoa, I forgot about the time!" Izzy said with a slightly scared tone in his voice. "I was suppose to home an hour ago, I've gotta go!" Izzy was about to run off when Mimi got up from the bench.  
  
"So we're suppose to meet in the center of the park at noon, right?" Mimi asked, expecting an answer from either Joe or Izzy.  
  
"Yeah, but it'll probably be delayed for a while, depending on how late Tai is." Joe said. Mimi and Izzy couldn't even tell if he was serious or joking, but either way they knew he was probably right, Tai was rarely on time for these meetings.  
  
"Oh, I just remembered, I don't have a thing to wear for the trip!" Mimi said suddenly, running off. "I gotta hit the mall, guys, see you tomorrow!" Both Joe and Izzy watch her run off towards the mall until she was out of sight.  
  
"I'll bet anything she comes tomorrow wearing exactly what she's wearing now..." Joe said silently, turning toward Izzy, but he wasn't as his side anymore. Joe looked behind him to see Izzy running off towards his house, apparently with no time to say goodbye to Joe. "Why do I suddenly have a sinking feeling about this trip?" Joe was worried about meeeting up with any evil Digimon, but also happy he'd be seeing Gomamon again. Joe started back for his house to get ready for tomorrow, more worried about it than when he first came into the park.  
  
**********  
  
Tai and Kari were now just a block from TK's house. Luckily it was close to Tai and Kari's appartment, but Kari didn't like it that her mom didn't trust her to go by herself. She was 12 years old now, nearly an official teenager, and a lot more mature from her trials in the Digiworld, she hated being treated like she was still 6 years old. To her mom, though, walking to TK's house was more dangerous than the Dark Masters.  
  
They were just a house or two away now and Tai suddenly noticed Kari looked nervous somehow. *She would't be nervous about seeing TK, would she?* Tai wondered. Ever since she asked Tai about Sora and him, he couldn't help but keep thinking it was possible. *She was mature for her age, sure, but still...* The more Tai thought about it, the more confused he became. He thought about asking her directly, but she could just as easily deny it, too...  
  
"Hey, Tai! Where are you going?" Kari suddenly said. Tai snapped out of his trance of thought and looked behind him. Kari was standing in front of a walkway to the door of TK's house, looking at Tai like his head was on fire.  
  
"Whoops..." Tai said, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, Kari, guess I lost track of things for a sec." Tai quickly walked back to where Kari was before the two walked to the door. Kari reached for the doorbell, but she looked hesitant to push the button. *She's definatly nervous...* Tai thought, watching her hand shaking a little. *She's never acted like this before... not this much, at least, but she seems... I don't know... it's weird...* Tai reached for the doorbell and rang it for Kari, who was still shaking a bit. The siblings waited about half a minute, which Kari mainly used calming down, before the door opened. Tai's jaw nearly fell open when he saw who had answered the door.  
  
"Surprised to see me here, Tai?" Matt said with a cocky grin on his face. Tai was, too, so was Kari for that matter.  
  
"Hey, Matt!" Tai said to his friend. "What are you doing over at TK's house? I thought you didn't get to visit very often?" Tai quickly took notice that Matt looked a lot happier and relaxed than usual.  
  
"That might not be the case much longer." Matt replied, walking back into the house. "Come on in and I'll explain things a bit better." Tai and Kari followed him into the front room of the house where TK was sitting. As soon as he saw Kari, TK got up and ran over to his best friend. The two gave eacch other a friendly hug to say hello before Matt walked over to a doorway leading to the kitchen. "Take a look for yourself, Tai." Matt was leaning against the side of the doorway, looking in on whatever was happening in there. Puzzled, Tai made his way over to Matt and looked into the kitchen. This was the biggest surprise yet. There was TK and Matt's parents, smiling and talking to each other. Tai also noticed they were holding hands.  
  
*Great, as if I wasn't confused with everything else as it is...* Tai thought to himself. "What's going on?" Tai asked Matt, still looking at the sight.  
  
"Remember when we fought with Apocalymon?" Matt asked, looking back at Tai. Tai turned his head and gave Matt a strange look as if to say 'Did you even have to ask?'. "Okay, stupid question..." Matt admitted, continuing. "As it turns out, my parents were watching me and TK fight and they were holding hands the entire time. Somehow seeing us fight together made them realize a few things. They started dating all over again and now they're actually talking about getting married again." Tai could tell how happy this made Matt, he'd be able to live with his little brother and mom again.   
  
"So why isn't Mimi here to hear such good news?" Kari suddenly said from behind Tai and Matt. Matt's expression suddenly changed from a happy one to an annoyed one like Kari had just said something to insult Matt.  
  
"Why would she be here?" Matt replied, now with a cold tone in his voice. "All she ever does is drag me to dress shops and shoe stores, I can't stand how vein she is!" TK, Kari and Tai all rolled their eyes, remembering those same words from about 3 weeks ago, the last time Matt and Mimi got into a fight. Every time this happened, Matt had the exact same reasons in mind.  
  
"Hey, Kari." TK said, eyeing the wall clock. "Maybe we should get going, any later and we won't have enough time to have any fun!" Kari considered any time with TK fun, but since she did want to have plenty of time, and get away from Matt before he started one of his famous Mimi rantings, she nodded and followed TK to the door.  
  
"TK, be careful!" Matt called to his brother, shaking off his mood for a moment. Matt was always as protective of TK as Tai was of Kari.  
  
"No problem, Matt!" TK called back, opening the door for Kari. "The arcade's right down the street, you know!" With that TK followed Kari out the door, shutting it behind him. Matt couldn't help but wonder why Kari would be concerned about his so called girlfriend. It didn't matter, though, like every time Matt and Mimi got into a fight, Matt was positive this was the end of him and Mimi... much to his regret...  
  
"Well, I'd love to stay and see how this works out between your parents." Tai said, looking at the clock himself. "But I've gotta get to Sora's house, if I'm late for another one of our dates she's going to strangle me!" Tai was joking, but he had a gut feeling it was true, too.  
  
"Alright..." Matt said, kind of depressed at the moment. "Just try to be on time tomorrow, We've been waiting a long time to get back to the Digiworld and I'd rather not wait for you this time." Matt was bringing up the last time they went back, two summers ago. Tai was nearly an hour late and they almost went without him. Matt's never eased off of him about it since.  
  
"Matt, relax!" Tai said, making his way to the door. "I want to go back as much as you, no way I'm going to be late for this!" Tai took another look at the wall clock and ran out the door, realizing he was almost late as it was. As soon as Tai was out the door, Matt took one last look at his parents before finding a spot on the living room couch to sit. Thoughts of Mimi, TK, his parents, it was like everything was pulling him in every direction at once. It was definatly Matt's turn to have too much to think about.  
  
**********  
  
TK and Kari didn't have much trouble getting to the arcade. Like TK said, it was just down the street and only by a few blocks. It seemed like every time TK and Kari came here they found a new game, not that the place was that big, just they were the only arcade in town that kept the newest games in.  
  
"So what looks good?" TK asked Kari as soon as they had entered. TK had a bit of impatience when it came to having fun, that's something about him Kari learned fast.  
  
"Well..." Kari began. "Some of these new games seem kind of..." Kari's eyes fell on a white pod-like contraption. "...exotic." she finished. Both TK and Kari had read about this game, it was like a flight simulator, it rocked and spun you around wildly and the main objective was to get control of the pod. It was unique, but not up there ally, to say the least. The two rounded through the arcade, looking over all of the video games available. Everthing you'd expect to find was there, one on one basketball shooting, a row of classic games, even one of the new jet ski games. As it turns out, that one was right next to the white pod game.  
  
"Well since that overgrown egg gives me the creeps," TK said, pointing over his shoulder at it. "wanna play the jet ski game?" Kari couldn't help but giggle a little, the game did look like a giant egg now that she thought about it.  
  
"Sure, why not?" Kari said, smiling. She reached into her pocket to pull out some loose quarters, then looked at the price on the machine. "$2 a play? How do they get away with that?" Kari started to put her change away but TK grabbed her wrist gently, stopping her.  
  
"Here, how about we split the cost?" TK offered. "I'll pay a dollar if you will." TK smiled at Kari, making it hard for her to refuse. She grabbed four quarters from her hand full of change and put them into one of the coin slots while TK put in four of his own quarters. The game made a chiming sound, meaning it was ready to play. Kari smiled at TK before walking to get on the jet ski. Before she could, though, a much bigger kid, easily a high school senior, stepped onto the game, knocking Kari out of the way.  
  
"Thanks for the free game, kids!" The guy said, grinning viciously. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and baggy pants that were fastened low, letting the top of his boxers hang out. He also had a baseball cap on with the bill on backwards, letting a lock of spiked brown hair hang out of the hole in the cap.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?!" Kari said, showing some anger, a rare thing from Kari. If it was at any other time, TK would have been surprised by the outburst.  
  
"Well I think I'm going to play this video game on your two bucks, any problem with that?" The guy was starting to sound like a kid Matt told him about from his school. He was the biggest punk in the entire school, he thought he owned everyone and everything and didn't hesitate to show it.  
  
"You bet I have a problem with that!!" Kari was really mad now, TK had never seen her like this before. "Me and my friend paid for that game, no way we're just going to let you take it!" The guy was obviously getting annoyed and stepped off the game, walking towards Kari, making her walk backwards some.  
  
"Who, your 'boyfriend' over there?" He said, pointing at TK, who was beside the white pod game now, watching what was happening. "He hasn't lifted a finger to do anything about it, he's as pathetic as you." The kid started shoving Kari a little, pushing her back even more. The sight made something in TK's mind snap instantly, like an instinct he hadn't used in forever.  
  
*I have to protect Kari!* He thought to himself, grabbing some change from his pocket. He pulled it out and dropped four quarters into the egg shaped game beside him. The door on the side slid open, which was facing Kari and the high schooler. Without even thinking about it, TK moved to a spot that put the high schooler between the pod and himself, then rushed forward, knocking the guy into the pod game. The door immediatly shut, locking him in until the ride was over, then the egg started shaking and turning, tossing and pitching the guy around in the machine. TK grabbed Kari by the wrist and the two ran for the door, needing to getting out of the arcade as soon as possible, if not because the pod only lasted a minute or two, but also because they knew the manager wouldn't be too happy about this.  
  
Once the two were far enough away, they found a bench to sit on and catch their breathes. The two were exausted from running all the way from the arcade, neither one had run much since they left the Digiworld last, butt running from a crazed virus type Digimon was safer than running from a mean high schooler. Once the two weren't so exausted, Kari looked back at what just happened and wondered about something.  
  
"Hey, TK..." Kari said, still panting a little. "Why did you do that? I've never seen you hit anyone, let alone shove them like that." TK was still panting a bit, too, not used to running so fast. He knew this question was coming, too, what he did was totally against his nature.  
  
"Well, um..." TK started, unsure of how to explain himself. "It's, well... I remembered what happened 4 years ago when Piedmon was after us. When everone was trying to get us away from Piedmon, I promised I would protect you no matter what... I never forgot that promise." Kari couldn't help but be flattered by TK's words.  
  
"TK, that was a whole 4 years ago." Kari said. "Piedmon's been gone a long time, you don't need to keep that kind of promise anymore." Kari smiled at TK, hoping to convince him of what she was saying.  
  
"It's not that simple." TK said, looking down at the ground. "A promise is a promise, no matter how long ago I made it. Besides, I don't want to see you get hurt, when I saw that guy start shoving you, I just snapped, I couldn't help it..." TK was blushing from admitting this, but with his head down he was sure Kari couldn't see it. This also made it hard to see Kari was blushing, too, now very flattered by what TK was telling her.  
  
"Thanks, TK..." Kari said, giving him a light hug. He hugged back, but it broke when Kari suddenly stood up. "So what now?" She said. "We've still got a whole day and we can't go back to the arcade."  
  
"No problem!" TK said, now standing and sounding like his usual self. "I know of another arcade near Sora's home, it's not as good but you'd never see any guys like that one in it."  
  
"Sounds perfect!" Kari said. *Perfect as long as you're there...* She thought out of thin air. Kari shook her head a bit. *Where did that come from? I sounded like a love sick romantic for a second...* She looked back at TK, who looked like he was trying to remember which way the second arcade was, and had the urge to think the same thing again. *Okay, Kari, get ahold of yourself... he's your best friend, you shouldn't have crush on him!*  
  
"Hey Kari!" She suddenly heard. Kari looked over her head and saw TK starting to walk off, apparently sure of where that arcade was. "You coming or are you just going to space out all day?" TK smiled and started to walk back towards Kari until she walked to him instead.  
  
"Sorry, I kind of got lost in thought for a second." She said, dismissing her thoughts of TK. The two started walking, with TK slightly ahead to lead, heading for the second arcade. Kari hoped he knew where he was going, but for some reason, she definatly trusted him. As they walked, Kari's mind kept slipping back to the thought that had popped into her head. It seemed like a natural thought, nothing made her think it, but it felt strange all the same... not a bad feeling, just... strange...  
  
About halfway there, Kari was still trying to sort through things and it was now driving her crazy. One incident in an arcade and she didn't even know how she felt about her best friend anymore. *This is redicules...* Kari thought to herself. *This should be so easy, all I want to know is how one thought popped into my head, so why is it confusing me so much...* Kari looked over at TK, who as if on que, looked over at her and smiled. Kari smiled back and looked ahead again. *...and why do I want to have that thought again...* Kari knew she had to get things in order before she went insane. "Hey, TK?" Kari said, hoping to sneak a few answers out of TK.  
  
"Yeah, Kari?" He replied in his usual cheery voice. Kari suddenly felt a tight, tingling feeling in her gut.  
  
"I was just thinking about Tai and Sora..." Kari lied, trying to get a few helpful words from TK without him knowing it. "They always seem like the perfect couple and they can't ever get enough of each other." TK nodded in agreeance.  
  
"You should see Matt and Mimi." TK said, going the direction Kari was hoping. "One second those two are the perfect pair, the next they're at each other's throats. I can't tell anything about those two anymore!" TK started laughing a little, making Kari laugh with him.  
  
"I asked Tai about why he and Sora spend so much time together." Kari said, hoping this would work. "He told me they were in love... He seemed really sure of it, too, like it came naturally." Kari wished she had thought of a better line, but it might still work.  
  
"Matt says he loves Mimi, even when the two are fighting." TK was shaking his head like he was trying to figure out something. Kari thought for a second and decided this wasn't working out so well. TK was a month or two older than she was, but Kari was still more mature. She bit her bottom lip and thought about going a bit more directly.  
  
"Hey TK..." Kari began, once again feeling the tight tingle in her gut. "What do you think love is?" TK looked at Kari strangely like he had no clue what she was talking about.  
  
"I never really thought about it before." TK said. "I guess it's when you care about someone more than anyone else. I asked Matt about it and he said it was impossible to describe, you had to experience it." Kari suddenly felt like TK was the more mature one of them. "He once told me he always got this feeling in his stomache like it was being squeezed and tickled or something like that." Kari suddenly tried to ignore the tight tingle in her midsection, getting more nervous.  
  
"Did he say anything else?" Kari asked.  
  
"Yeah." TK said. "He told me to stop thinking about love till I was older. He never even had a crush till he was 13 and I shouldn't be able to fall in love." This kind of relieved Kari, but hurt in a way, too. She decided to try one last time, this time deciding it was too late to not go all the way.  
  
"Well..." Kari started, nervous of the upcoming reaction and responce. "Do you think you've ever been in love, TK?" Hearing this, TK stumbled a bit, taken by surprise by the question. Kari was expecting worse than that, so she didn't complain, looking at TK with a nervous look on her face.  
  
"Nah, I think Matt was right when he said I'm too young for that kind of thing." TK's head dropped just a little after he said this. Kari didn't know if this made her relieved or upset, too many thoughts were going through her at the same time. "Besides, what girl would ever fall in love with someone like me?" TK said with a joking smile on his face.  
  
*He's right...* Kari thought to herself. *It is kind of silly for a 12 year old to be in love. I've never even had a real crush...* Kari alwys had a slight crush on TK, it took her a while to realize it herself though. It was the kind of crush any girl had on her best male friend, though, so she mainly dismissed it without thinking about it. "So how much longer until we get to this arcade?" Kari said, the last conversation half forgotten.  
  
"Not too far." He said, looking around. "I think I see it over there." TK was pointing to a small building on the other side of the road. The windows displayed a few pinball machines, one even had a kid their age playing it. TK was right, though, it wasn't nearly as big as the one they had intended on going to. TK looked down the street one way, then back up the other. The road had been barren all day, it was a friday and most people were at work. Tk started walking across the street to the arcade with Kari close behind. Somewhere in the back of her head that thought she had still haunted her mind, but she was sure a few games and she would forget all about it.  
  
**********  
  
The sun was starting to set when TK and Kari walked out of the arcade. TK had a small yo-yo tied to his finger and Kari was carrying a small stuffed panda bear. TK had won both out of the crane game the arcade had, one of the few games the newer arcade no longer kept. He was really good at the crane game and got a lot more than that, but most of it he gave to some of the younger kids that couldn't play it well. Kari always admired that sweet, kind side of TK that he often showed.  
  
As Kari and TK were walking back to TK's house, they noticed a small restaurant to the side with a lot of outdoor tables. The whole outdoor dining area was surrounded by a fence of bushes except for the side that faced the restaurant. As they walked by it, TK and Kari looked at all of the empty tables, some with plates and glasses still waiting to be picked up, but they only saw one table occupied, near the far side of the area. It was a young couple eating alone, obviously on a date, but Kari couldn't help but think she knew one of the ones at the table. As they walked, they got a slightly better view and TK now thought he recognised them, too. It was too dark to really tell, most of the light was shaded out excpet for one lamp post narby. Kari saw the male figure toss his head back like he was laughing, a mass of brown hair falling into the light of the lamp post behind him. Kari suddenly pulled TK down behind the bushes, startling him.  
  
"Hey!" TK said, almost yelling. "Why did..." TK was cut off by Kari's hand over his mouth, trying to keep him quiet.  
  
"That's my brother!" Kari said, almost whispering. "He's still on his date with Sora." Kari dropped her hand from TK's mouth so he could respond.  
  
"Why is your brother always out with Sora anyway?" TK asked, looking between the bushes at Tai and Sora, still eating. "Matt doesn't date Mimi nearly as much as Tai dates Sora... They're usually fighting too much for it."  
  
"Tai told me he loved Sora." Kari said, also looking at her brother and his date. "I know Matt loves Mimi, though, when they aren't arguing..."  
  
"No wonder you were so curious about love earlier." TK said, giggling. Kari gave him a gentle shove, then started to move down the sidewalk, doing her best to stay below the top of the bush. "What are you doing?" TK said, following Kari in the same way without really realizing it.  
  
"They stopped eating." Kari said. TK took a quick look and saw that they did stop and were now talking. "I wanna hear what they're saying." Kari continued, rounding the corner of the bush. TK thought it was kind of strange for Kari to act like this, but followed her anyway for some reason. After another minute of this half crawling, half walking movement, TK and Kari found themselves practically right beside Tai and Sora, with nothing between them but the bush.  
  
"I dont know why you always insist on coming here, Tai." Sora said in her usual happy tone of voice. She was still finishing up her plate of food, but TK and Kari were too low to tell what she was eating.   
  
"Well this was where we had our first date." Tai said, looking around a bit. "Besides, the food's good and it isn't a bad view." Tai's eyes passed the spot Kari and TK were hiding, panicing the two for a second before they realize he didn't see them. "We could always go somewhere else if you want."  
  
"Maybe next time..." Sora said, pushing her plate away from her. "It's getting dark, maybe we should call it a day. Besides, dont you need to pick up Kari from TK's house?" Kari's eyes widened as she remembered they should have been back at TK's place hours ago. She was mentally kicking herself for forgetting.  
  
"I'm sure she'll be fine at TK's for a while." Tai said, obviously not wanting the date to end so quickly. "Besides, it would do her some good. She was asking about why we go out so often, I was worried she wanted to start dating herself." Kari started blushing out of embarrassment. She couldn't believe Tai would say that to anybody. "I talked to her about it for a while and I don't think she's interested in that kind of thing yet." Sora started laughing a little.  
  
*Boy, does he have it wrong...* TK and Kari thought at the same time.  
  
"Yeah, but those two will make a cute couple when they're old enough." Sora said. Now both TK and Kari were blushing incredibly.  
  
"That's the part that worries me." Tai said, now sounding more serious. "Thanks to all that happened in the Digiworld they matured a lot faster than most kids their age... They might know a lot more about love than we give them credit for..." Tai took out a wallet and sorted a small stack of money from it. He laid it down on the table and stood up.  
  
"You might be right..." Sora said, standing up with him. "Still, they would make a good couple someday..." Tai wrapped his arms around Sora's waist, surprising her a bit, but then she put her arms around his neck.  
  
"Better than us?" Tai said, smiling. Before Sora could answer, Tai leaned his hean towards hers and pressed his lips to hers, giving her a passionate kiss which Sora quickly returned. TK and Kari quickly turned away, their eyes both shut tight. Tai and Sora had kissed in front of the two before, so had Matt and Mimi, but never like that. The sight, to them, was just gross. It was another minute before the two broke their kiss.  
  
"How about a quick movie before we call it a night? We might just make it for the next movie that's playing." Tai was still smiling and still holding Sora in his arms. Sora was still a bit taken back from the kiss.  
  
"Sure..." She replied. "Sounds great..." Tai took her by the hand and walked with her into the restaurant since the only exit was through there. TK and Kari stood up, there legs a little shakey from being in a crouching position so long.  
  
"Why did they kiss like that?!" TK said, almost yelling, obviously thankful he didn't have to keep so quiet anymore. Kari started laughing a bit, mostly from TK's outburst.  
  
"Don't worry about it, at least it ended fast enough." Kari joked. "Come on, we should get to your house, thry're probablly worried sick by now." TK nodded in agreeance.  
  
"Yeah, Matt's probably going insane by now." TK said, laughing a little, even though he knew he was right. "Besides, we'll be back in the Digiworld tomorrow, we shouldn't be up all night anyway." Kari smiled, glad she'd finally see Gatomon again. She still felt bad that she wasn't there the first time so Gatomon didn't have to be alone for so long. Kari still thought she had to make up for it somehow.  
  
"I wonder if our Digimon have gotten along okay..." TK said, remembering Patamon. "Two years is a long time to be away from them." Kari nodded this time.  
  
"Well at least they dont act like my brother and Sora." Kari said, laughing. TK started laughing with her.  
  
"It would be ever worse if they were acting like Matt and Mimi." TK said, jokingly. "We'd never be able to get along if that was happening." TK and Kari both laughed, but something in the back of their heads had a bad feeling they just might be right...  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Next: Chapter 2 -- Digiworld Disaster 


	2. Chapter 2: Digital Discovery

The Greatest Power  
Chapter 2 -- Digital Discovery  
  
(Author's Note: This is a TK/Kari fic, but expect Tai/Sora and Matt/Mimi in there as well. It's definatly a romance fic, but it'll have plenty of action in there, too, or it will sooner or later. This fanfic is set 4 years after the defeat of Apocalymon and writen before the second Digimon series or movie came to America, so no characters or plots from that series or movie are in this story. Also, so nobody has to fight to think of how they changed in looks, just imagine the TV characters taller and more mature looking, I wont make reference to their clothes so you can imagine them however you want, I thought that would make it easier on you. Please read Chapter 1 so you'll know everything that's going on in this story. I admit this chapter has little TK/Kari romance, but for those fans, there's a surprise near the end.)  
  
While all of the Digidestined were spending their last day in their world, mostly doing what they liked to do best, their Digimon were spending another uneventful day on File Island. After all they had been through, they all wondered why they haven't gone insane with bordom. For some reason, they had been contacted by Gennai to meet at this spot, a riverbank not too far away from the beach. He didn't say why, just to wait till the next day and they'd see why. The strange part was that this was the first place they had really met their human friends and explained Digivolving to them.  
  
Agumon and Biyomon were sitting together, their feet dangling in the calm waters of the river. Biyomon had her head rested against Agumon's shoulder, which he hardly minded since he had his arm draped over her shoulders in trade. For almost a year now the two had been inseperable for some reason. Neither one could explain it, but they didn't want to lose that feeling, either. Just as the two were starting to doze off, they felt a sudden splash of water hit them, knocking them on their backs.  
  
"Whoops, sorry guys!" Gomamon's voice said from the water. Agumon and Biyomon sat up to see Gomamon, neck deep in the water, with many of his colorful fish around him. "I've been looking for Palmon, Gabumon said they got into a fight and she ran off." It wasn't anything new to Agumon or Biyomon, though. Gabumon and Palmon had the same thing Agumon and Biyomon had, except they've had it for about 5 months and they had already gotten into a few fights.  
  
"Did Gabumon say where she ran off to?" Biyomon asked, now on her feet. Agumon got to his feet and looked around, looking for Tentomon, Patamon and Gatomon.  
  
"No, he just said she ran off, then he left to find her." Gomamon explained. "I already found Tentomon, he's flying around looking for her and Gabumon now." He turned around quickly, looking at his fish friends. "Go up and down the river as far as you can, if you see anything green and pink, let me know!" The fish seemed to understand and swam off, half going one way, half going the other. Agumon was still looking around for the others. He spotted Patamon, napping in a low branch of a tree with Gatomon taking a cat nap at the base of the tree.  
  
"Hey, Gatomon, Patamon, wake up time!" Agumon said, running over to the tree. Gatomon woke up quickly and stood up. Patamon had waken up from Agumon's yelling too, but woke up much slower.  
  
"Agumon, do you have to disturb all of my naps?" Gatomon said, flexing her claws a bit. Agumon had been a bit of a leader in Tai's absence, something he had picked up from his human friend.  
  
"Sorry..." Agumon said, scratching the back of his head. "Palmon ran off and we're trying to find her." Patamon's "ears" perked up, now fully awake.  
  
"No problem, why didn't you say so?" Gatomon said. "I'll have her back in two shakes of a digitail." With that she turned and started to head into a small forest nearby.  
  
"Hey, hold it!" Agumon quickly shouted, stopping Gatomon. "Let me come with you, two can find her faster than one." Agumon started to follow, only to stop when Gatomon shook her head at him.  
  
"No offence, Agumon, but I don't need you to find a stray flower... Besides, I'd be better off alone." Gatomon had a point... She was the only Champion level Digimon among them and a lot of Digimon still knew her as one of Myotismon's henchmen, which scared most off. Gatomon started to run off again, then her eyes caught Patamon, still in the tree, staring at her. After about a minute of eye to eye contact, Gatomon waved Patamon to come with her. Patamon flew from his spot on the branch and flew after Gatomon, who was running into the forest. Once the two were gone, Agumon couldn't help but wonder why she wanted Patamon to come with her and not him...  
  
"Hey, Agumon!" Biyomon's voice called out, breaking Agumon's thought. "Gomamon's fish are coming back, I think they found something!" Agumon turned back toward Biyomon and walked to her. He saw the fish that went downstream coming back, more jumpy than when they left. Gomamon had gotten out of the water and was standing on one side of Biyomon with Agomon on her other side.  
  
"Fine anything?" Gomamon asked his fish. They flopped up and down like they were nodding yes. They flopped around and somehow produced a pink rose, complete with a green stem. They passed it over to Gomamon, who took it in his claws, but just stared at it. "That's not quite... what I meant..." he said. Disappointed, the fist dived underwater and vanished. Gomamon tossed the rose behind him where Agumon caught it. He looked at it for a second, then at Biyomon before slipping the rose into the feathers on the side of her head. The rose was just barely a darker shade of pink than her feathers. Biyomon smiled and gave Agumon a "peck" on his cheek just before Tentomon flew back from a group of trees with Palmon slowly walking behind him.  
  
"Great job, Tentomon!" Agumon said. "How did you find her?" Tentomon landed in front of Agumon. He was panting and looked eager to finally let his wings rest.  
  
"Well it wasn't easy to say the least!" Tentomon shouted. "I was chasing after Gabumon, but he ran into some thick trees and I lost him, then Palmon came out of nowhere and I followed her, then I lose her and found Gabumon, then lost him and found her... I was going nuts!" Tentomon collapsed, exausted from searching and explaining his search. Palmon, still at her slow walking pace, finally reached the group.  
  
"Palmon, we were worried about you." Biyomon said. Palmon was looking towards the ground with a sad look in her eyes. The kind she had every time she and Gabumon had this kind of argument.  
  
"I'm sorry..." Palmon said with a sad tone in her voice. "When me and Gabumon got into another argument, I just had to get away for a while... I didn't mean to worry everybody... It's just that every time Gabumon does this..." As if on cue, the fish that went upstream came back with Gabumon on the riverbank, following the fish back to the group. Palmon saw him first and immediatly moved, putting the rest of the Digimon between her and Gabumon. Gabumon had the same sad look in his eye, but kept his distance from the group.  
  
"Welcome back, Gabumon!" Agumon said, walking over to the sad Digimon. The two had groen to be best friends since Tai and Matt had last left. Gabumon didn't answer Agumon's greeting, though, he was too upset to worry about returning the greeting. Agumon seemed understanding, keeping quiet instead of asking and nagging about it.  
  
"Well now that we're all here," Biyomon started, "where's Patamon and Gatomon? Shouldn't they have been back by now?" Agumon looked back at where Gatomon and Patamon had run off to and saw that they weren't back yet. They weren't anywhere nearby, either. "Maybe we should send someone after them." Biyomon suggested.  
  
"Good idea." Agumon agreed. "Hey Tentomon, can you..."  
  
"Are you crazy?!" Tentomon said, cutting Agumon off. Tentomon was still laying flat on his belly with his wings twitching, still exhausted from searching for Palmon and Gabumon.  
  
"Whoops, sorry..." Agumon said, forgetting Tentomon was still tired. "Guess I'll have to go after them..." Agumon turned toward the spot Gatomon and Patamon disppeared into and started running toward it, half afraid some Digimon grabbed them. Just as he was about to go through the bushes the two ran off into, something popped out and bashed into Agumon, throwing him back a few feet. Agumon, now half on his back, rubbed his throbbing head. He had his eyes shut so he didn't see what hit him. When he did finally open them, he was surprised to see Patamon rubbing his own head with Gatomon kneeling down beside him. "Where have you two been??" Agumon asked, ignoring his headache. Patamon shook his head a bit and stood up with Gatomon, both with slightly guilty looks on their faces.  
  
"Sorry, Agumon." Gatomon said. Agumon felt like he had heard that word one too many times today. "We thought we saw Palmon and chased after her, but we lost her after a while." Gatomon took a quick glance behind Agumon and saw Palmon, now with her feet dangling in the water to get a drink. "Guess you did better than we did." Agumon looked at Patamon, who was just watching Gatomon explain things.  
  
"Don't worry about it, you just concerned us, that's all." Agumon said before turning around and walking back to the group. Gatomon and Patamon glanced at each other, still with guilty looks on their faces, then followed the orange Digimon back to the main group. Tentomon was back on his feet and Biyomon had her feet back in the water. She was talking things over with Palmon, trying to lift her spirits. Gabumon had found Gatomon's previous spot at the base of the nearest tree and was now leaning against it, still sad apparently.   
  
Agumon looked up at the now dark night sky. Agumon looked at a small pile of sticks he had piled up earlier and spit a small Pepper Breath at it, setting it ablaze. "Well Gennai told us to wait for morning." Agumon said, finding a spot near the fire and laying down. "Might as well sleep till then..." Agumon stayed awake, watching everyone else. Biyomon, as usual, took a spot near Agumon and fell asleep fast. Tentomon had his own spot across from them and was already fast asleep, probably from flying around all day. Palmon had left the river and found a place a little away from the fire, not wanting to get singed in the middle of the night. After a while, Gabumon slowly left the tree and found a spot on the opposite side of the fire that Palmon was on, still trying to keep away from her at all costs. Once most were asleep, Agumon looked around and started to stand up when Gatomon put her claw on his shoulder, pushing him back down.  
  
"Don't bother, Agumon." Gatomon whispered. "Me and Patamon will take tonight's watch, just get to sleep." Agumon thought about it, then nodded and laid down beside Biyomon. As he was going to sleep, he remembered that Gatomon and Patamon asked for the watch a lot more often over the past few months. It made sense, Gatomon was the strongest and cats could stay up a long time, but why Patamon took the watch, too, he didn't know. He set it aside and fell asleep, but he still wasn't sure about what to expect when he woke up.  
  
**********  
  
The next day, back in the real world, it was almost noon and the Digidestined were gathering in the middle of the park. The area they decided on was surrounded by trees so nobody could see what was happening. They had always met here when they did their usual trips back and forth and the area was still just as private two years later. Izzy was, of course, typing on his computer, making sure everything was in order. Sora and Mimi were on one side talking, mostly about what was going on between Mimi and Matt. Mimi was always ready to talk about their fights the day after they have them. Kari was also there, leaving much earlier than her older brother. She was eager to get back and see Gatomon again. Joe, ever the reliable one, was the first one there out of all of them and was waiting against his favorite tree for the others.  
  
The second noon rolled around TK and Matt came through the trees. As soon as they came through the trees Mimi turned away, not sure of what to think of Matt at the moment. Kari just smiled when she saw TK come in.  
  
"Let me guess." Matt said, taking a spot against a tree near where they came in. "We're waiting for our 'fearless leader' to show up?" Everyone but TK and Mimi nodded at Matt, even Izzy who had shut down his laptop for now. "Why am I not surprised..." Matt asked himself, staring at the ground. Tai really was his best friend but sometimes he couldn't help but say things like that.  
  
After sitting for about 20 minutes with little conversation, Tai ran through the trees and practically skidded to a stop in the center of their little area. He was panting and sweating a bit, obviously running all the way here. Everyone was glad he didn't take as long as he did last time they went and smiled at his sudden entrance. Sora walked over and hugged him, with Tai returning it as well as he could.  
  
"Sorry I'm so late, everyone." Tai said, letting go of Sora. "I kind of got caught up in something." Tai was covering up the fact he had lost his Digivice for a while. He finally found it just five minutes ago.  
  
"Now that everyone's here." Izzy started, standing up. "Did everyone remember their Digivices?" Izzy was looking at Tai, half expecting him to admit he couldn't find his.  
  
"Yes!" Everyone but Izzy said at once. Even thought they weren't needed, everyone was also wearing their fake tags and crests. To everyone it didn't seem like the Digiworld without them.  
  
"Then you all know the drill!" Izzy said, walking into the center of the circle. He grabbed his Digivice from his pocket and held it out with it facing towards the sky.  
  
"I've still got a bad feeling about this..." Joe said, joining Izzy in the center, holding out his Digivice. One by one, the rest walked up and held their Digivices out with all of them pointed up at the sky.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Joe." Tai said, trying to bring some confidence to his friend. "There's nothing to worry about, we've done this plenty of times." Tai was right, this used to be a weekly visit till high school hit them.  
  
"Well sorry, Tai." Joe said, sounding half sarcastic. "I guess it's just my fear of being tossed through dimentions by something we've known for so long and still barely know about." Tai rolled his eyes, knowing he'd answer like that. The eight waited a few seconds in silence before a rainbow of light fell from the sky, touching the ground they were surrounding. The whole thing was still a little eerie to all of them, crossing dimentions on a rainbow, but it was the only way to get to the Digiworld. Tai was the first to step into the light, followed by Kari and Matt. One by one, the rest of the group walked into the rainbow light, Joe being the last. Slowly, they lifted off the ground, raising slowly higher into the beam of light. Just before they were above the treetops where they would be seen, a bright flash of light came out of nowhere, making it hard for any of them to see until they were all forced to close their eyes. They all felt themselves first going up very fast, then like they were falling, but it all happened so quick it was hard to tell.  
  
**********  
  
Agumon was snoring away, having a nice dream of Biyomon and him with a Digiegg or two. Agumon was always having such far out dreams. Suddenly his dream was broken by a slight shaking, like someone was trying to wake him up. Agumon figured it was just Gatomon waiting for him to take over night watch and pretended he was still asleep, keeping his eyes clenched shut.  
  
"Wake up, sleepy head!" A voice above Agumon said. It definatly wasn't Gatomon, the voice was male, but that was all he could tell in his drowsy state. The shaking became more violent, giving Agumon a headache from all the shaking. Finally, Agumon relented and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked up and saw a mess of brown and blue in his foggy eyes. He rubbed them again and looked back up, now seeing who was shaking him. "Not getting enough sleep lately?" Tai said, grinning. Agumon sprang to his feet and tackled his best human friend, excited to see him.  
  
"Tai, what are you doing here?!" Agumon said eagerly. Tai was trying his best to get up before Agumon's excitement got out of hand.  
  
"We thought we'd stop by!" Tai said, rolling Agumon off and standing up. "Besides, it's the first time we've all been available in a long time."  
  
"Um... we?" Agumon said, kind of confused. He looked around and saw what he meant. All the Digidestined were with their Digimon. Sora was sitting on the ground, hugging Biyomon. Izzy was already trading stories with Tentomon about the past two years. Joe was sitting by the river, trying to avoid being splashed by Gomamon. TK looked the most excited, chasing Patamon around the area and having some trouble catching the flying Digimon. Mimi was hugging Palmon and Palmon looked really happy for the first time since her fight with Gabumon. Speaking of which, Matt was sitting against a tree with Gabumon, playing on his harmonica like old times. Kari was up in a tree with Gatomon sitting in her lap, glad to be with her human companion. It almost looked like the old times when they didn't have to worry about Dark Masters or evil Digimon like that, despite how rare those times were.  
  
"What, you didn't think I'd come back alone, did you?" Tai said, knowing the answer and wearing a smile that said he did.  
  
"Well how was I suppose to know?" Agumon said, still looking around, half in disbelief. "I'm glad you're back, though, things have been way too dull around here." Agumon was looking at Patamon, still being chased my TK, who just flew up and joined Gatomon and Kari. TK reached the tree and climbed up after Patamon, who seemed to be waiting for TK to get to the branch Kari was on. Once he did, Patamon flew over and sat in his lap, partially from being tired from flying around so much. "Those two still hang around together all the time?" Agumon asked Tai, who was looking over at Sora and Mimi talking with Biyomon and Palmon.  
  
"Yeah, I'm lucky I can even separate those two when I need to." Tai said, turning his attention to the four in the tree.  
  
"That's the same for Gatomon and Patamon, they've been best friends ever since you guys last left." Agumon explained. "Just last night they volunteered to take guard duty, they've been doing that a lot the past few months." Tai was surprised at the news since Gatomon always seemed like the kind that didn't take many friends, except for Kari and Wizardmon before his death. Something in the back of Tai's mind told him that such a thing might not be such a coincidence...  
  
**********  
  
A few hours later, it really was back to old times. The Digidestined and their Digimon were exploring their favorite parts of File Island, most of which was new to Kari since she never really explored the island before. Some of the Digimon had paired off and were walking together in front of their human companions. Agumon and Biyomon were in the front, walking just ahead of Tai and Sora. Matt and Gabumon were trying to keep the group between them and Mimi and Palmon. Izzy, Tentomon, Joe and Gomamon were dead center of the group, and TK and Kari were in the back, walking just in front of Patamon and Gatomon. Everyone seemed happy to be back to their traditional setup of things.  
  
"We realls should have come back here sooner." Sora said, taking Tai's hand in her own. "I forgot how beautiful the Digiworld could be when there weren't any evil Digimon trying to take it over." Tai smiled at Sora and gripped her hand a little.  
  
"You're right." He admitted. "It's kind of hard to notice when you've got Devimons and Etemons and Dark Masters getting you all the time." Tai meant it as a joke, but Sora seemed serious at the thought. She looked down at Biyomon and noticed something she hadn't seen before, making her forget about Tai's comment.  
  
"Hey, Tai..." Sora said in a silent tone. "Take a look at Agumon and Biyomon, you notice anything strange?" Tai looked down at his orange Digimon and he looked the same as always. He turned his eyes to Biyomon, who also looked the same... but the two were holding hands as they walked... well claws and wings, at least... still Tai never noticed it before.  
  
"Hey guys, maybe we should take a quick rest?" Tai said suddenly. Everyone was surprised by it since Tai never did this before, but none complained.  
  
"Wow." Mimi said to Palmon. "Maybe Tai wants to take as many breaks as I do from now on?" Palmon shrugged as best as she could.  
  
"Maybe, but then again maybe something's wrong?" Palmon said. "That's why we always stopped suddenly before." Mimi cringed a bit.  
  
"Please, Palmon, don't mention that, we haven't even been here a day yet." Mimi said. Palmon smiled nervously and nodded. The spot they ended up stopping at was a fairly large area a short distance from a small lake, possibly the one they battled Seadramon in. There was a small patch of trees nearby, too, which must have grown since they were there last, and the area was mostly surrounded by bushes. Gabumon wandered over to the lake, possibly still depressed over his fight with Palmon. Once everyone was settled down, Tai walked to Izzy, who was back to translating the script on the temple wall with Tentomon watching over his shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Izzy." Tai said, sittind down in front of Izzy. "By any chance, did you notice what's going on between Agumon and Biyomon?" Izzy was still staring at his computer screen, typing furiously. "IZZY!!" Tai screamed, scaring Izzy out of his computer trance and knocking Tentomon onto his back.  
  
"You don't have to yell!" Izzy said, setting his computer aside. "Now what about Agumon and Biyomon? They look perfectly fine to..." Izzy's glance fell on the two Digimon in question, who were sitting against a tree, thier arms around each other's shoulders. "...I think I see what you mean." Izzy looked about as shocked as Tai was when he saw it first.  
  
"I never thought Digimon fell in love like humans." Tai said, looking at his Digimon, who was smiling happily. "But the thing that really got to me was that Agumon told me Gatomon and Patamon have been best friends just like TK and Kari... It got me wondering if anything could be happening between us and our Digimon." Izzy picked up his computer again, but this time accessed a few files on their Digimon and the Digidestined.  
  
"Well we do share a bond with them that even I don't really understand." Izzy explained. "It's easily possible that our emotional feelings pass to them as well, and since you and Sora are in love, Agumon and Biyomon are too." Tai looked back at Agumon and Biyomon again and realized he might be right. "Hey Tentomon?" Izzy said to his friend, who just got back onto his feet. "How long have Agumon and Biyomon been like this?" Tentomon looked over at the two Digimon, which was nothing new to him.  
  
"If I remember straight, a little short of a year now." Tentomon said. "I guess it's been going on so much I never really noticed anymore." Izzy and Tai both looked at each other in disbelief.  
  
"Well, that's proof enough for me." Tai said. Then something else hit him. "Hey Tentomon, has anything been going on with Gabumon and Palmon?" Izzy suddenly realized the same thing when Tai mentioned them.  
  
"Well yes, but they're different." Tentomon said. Tai and Izzy were looking around for Gabumon and Palmon now, seeing how they were acting. "One minute they're perfectly happy then the next they're at each others throats... They've been doing that for about 6 months now." Now Tai and Izzy were even worse than before. Neither one could find Gabumon, but they saw Palmon wander off in one the direction Gabumon went, towards the lake. The two were about to follow when they saw Matt walking off toward a different part of the lake. "Um, this may or may not be a good thing but I think I saw Mimi wander off in that direction earlier." Now Tai and Izzy knew something bad was about to happen.  
  
"Might be a good idea to keep an eye on both of them." Tai said, walking off in the direction Matt went. Before he could get too far, Izzy grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.  
  
"We've gotta keep an eye on both couples." Izzy said, pointing in the direction Palmon went in. "The two spots aren't that far off, I'll bet the trees separating them have a spot where we could keep an eye on all of them." Tai looked and saw the paths really weren't that far off and were divifed by a patch of trees not a few feet deep. Not enough to stop them from seeing both groups, but also enough that the two couples couldn't hear each other. Tai began to walk toward the patch of trees when he heard a sound behind him. He and Izzy turned around and saw TK and Kari, standing there like they were listening the whole time. Tai looked back at the tree the two were in before and only saw Patamon and Gatomon sitting on the branch.   
  
"Let me guess." Tai said looking at the two. Both had a slightly mischevous look on their faces. "You want to come along?" TK and Kari both nodded.  
  
"I've gotta see what my brother's up to, he never just walks off like that..." TK wasn't including the time he walked off after their first Puppetmon incident since he came back and explained... sort of.  
  
"Besides, we've got experiance with this kind of thing!" Kari said, winking at her brother. Tai didn't know what she was talking about, but before he had time to think he was chasing after the two, who were running off for the patch of trees. Izzy was following close behind, trying his best to keep up. All this time, Agumon and Tentomon were watching their human friends arranging everything. Then something came to Agumon's mind.  
  
"Hey Tentomon?" Agumon asked, glancing at the tree Gatomon and Patamon were sitting in. "Last night Gatomon said she and Patamon found and followed Palmon before they lost her. Did you see either one when you were following Palmon?" Tentomon looked at Agumon, the thought for a second.  
  
"Well it was hard to tell with my eyes drifting so often..." Tentomon admited. "but no, I don't think I did. I would have recognised them, a white cat and an orange pig are kind of easy to spot in so much green jungle." Agumon sat down and let the new thoughts swim in his head for a second. He couldn't help but wonder why Gatomon might lie to him...  
  
**********  
  
Tai and Izzy found TK and Kari already sitting in a narrow, clear area of the trees, surrounded by small bushes. In front of them was just more trees, but to one side was a perfect view of Mimi looking out at the water. On the other side, they had another great view, this one of Gabumon sitting waterside. The two were starting to think TK and Kari really did have experience with this.  
  
"Took you two long enough." TK said in a quiet tone. Tai and Izzy kneeled down to hide better while both scenes took place. Nobody was sure which scene to watch more. Suddenly they knew as they saw Palmon emerge from the trees on their right, walking up to Gabumon. Gabumon turned and saw Palmon and started to walk off when Palmon extended her vines, blocking him off.  
  
"Gabumon..." Palmon said, her voice a little shakey. "We've gotta talk, we can't avoid each other forever, you know." Palmon gave him a look of concern and Gabumon nodded, trying his best not to look straight into Palmon's eyes.  
  
"I know..." He replied, the same shakey tone in his voice. "I'm sorry I got so mad at you, I never should have gotten that upset..." Palmon looked at him and drew her vines back in, trusting him not to leave. The four spies couldn't help but keep watching, until they heard something on their other side. They all looked over to the other side to see Matt and Mimi now talking. They had already started while they were watching the Digimon.  
  
"No, Matt, I'm sorry..." Mimi said. It was strange because she was picking up right where Palmon left off. "It wasn't that big of a deal, I don't know why I got so mad..." Matt had a genuine look of worry on his face, something that surprised even his brother.  
  
"No, all you wanted was to pop into a store for a minute, it wasn't anything I sould have gotten mad about." Matt looked like he was about to cry, but Mimi had beat him to it, letting a few tears roll down her cheek. Tai, Izzy and TK were still staring when Kari tugged on their shirts. They turned to see the scene of Gabumon and Palmon again. Gabumon was gently wiping away a pair of tears that were coming down Palmon's cheek.  
  
"You know how much I hate to get into these fights..." Gabumon said gently. "The last thing I would do would be to hurt you..." Palmon sniffed a bit, trying to keep the tears back.  
  
"I do, too..." Palmon admitted, wrapping her arms around Gabumon. Gabumon wrapped his upper arms around Palmon. TK lost intrest in this mush and turned back to Matt and Mimi, with Tai, Izzy and Kari doing the same. They fell upon a similar scene, with Matt and Mimi embracing the same way.  
  
"I don't know why we fight so much..." Matt said, letting his eyes tear up a bit. "Every time we do it kills me because... I... I love you, Mimi..." Mimi's eyes lit up at the sound of those 3 words.  
  
"Oh, Matt..." Mimi said, now crying from happiness. "I love you, too..." Matt smiled, hearing those words. He leaned his head down to Mimi's and kissed her with passion, a kiss Mimi gladly returned. TK and Kari jerked their heads away from the sight right away, still recovering from seeing Tai and Sora do the same thing. Tai and Izzy just sat there in shock. TK and Kari looked at each other, then grabbed Tai and Izzy by the arm and yanked them away from the sight, turning them back towards Gabumon and Palmon, who were now embraced tighter.  
  
"Palmon..." Gabumon said, barely audible from where the four spies were sitting. "Promise we won't get into any other fights... for a while at least?" Gabumon let go of Palmon and let his hands fall into hers.  
  
"I promise." Palmon said smiling. Still holding hands, the two turned toward the lake, watching the sky going dark, slowly becoming night. The four spies turned to the left to see Matt and Mimi doing the same thing. In silence, the four left their spot to leave the two couples to themselves. Once they were all out of the trees, they all stretched a bit, cramped from stayong on their knees for so long.  
  
"Well at least their fight is over for now." Tai commented. Everyone nodded, then looked around. Everyone was still where they left them, but Joe had fallen into the water when Gomamon splashed him too hard. One thing TK and Kari noticed was that Patamon and Gatomon had left their perch on the tree branch. Tai and Izzy walked over to Agumon and Tentomon who were watching a patch of tall bushes. TK and Kari had walked back to the tree to wait for their Digimon to come back from wherever they went.  
  
"Agumon?" Tai said, wondering what he was looking at. "What's so interesting about a few bushes?" Tai meant it as a joke, but Agumon had a different idea about things apparently.  
  
"It's interesting because Patamon and Gatomon headed in there just now." Agumon said. Tai couldn't tell if his friend sounded worried or curious. "They've been doing this for about two years now and it's starting to make me wonder what they're doing." Tai looked at the bushes, then back at Izzy.  
  
"Up for another spy game?" Tai asked Izzy with a mischevous tone in his voice.  
  
"Sure, but ths time Tentomon and Agumon come along." Izzy said, looking down at the bug Digimon beside him. "They'll know more about what has been happening than we will." Tai nodded, agreeing, then slowly wandered into and through the bushes, trying to stay silent. Izzy soon followed, then Agumon and Tentomon came through the bushes. The view was of a small clearing with nothing but thick trees on all sides. The four saw Gatomon and Patamon, sitting beside each other. Gatomon's cat eyes could have spotted them in a second if it wasn't for the thick bush they were hiding in.  
  
"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up..." Patamon said, a sad look on his face. Gatomon brushed her claw against his cheek, trying to get him to smile.  
  
"I know, two years we've been doing this..." Gatomon said, trying to hide how upset she was. "The others will suspect something sooner or later." Patamon nodded, agreeing.  
  
"Well they're our friends, if we can't tell them, who can we tell?" Patamon was trying to put a bright spin on whatever situation the four spies were watching.  
  
"I don't know if they would accept it..." Gatomon said, now showing a hint of sadness in her eyes. "We aren't even on the same Digivolution level." Izzy was obviously getting some ideas, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. He knew the two were best friends since TK and Kari were best friends, so whatever they meant was escaping him.  
  
"I know..." Patamon said, turning toward Gatomon. "Sometimes I can't believe it myself." Patamon was smiling again, stretching the wings on his head a bit.  
  
"Guess you can't help but like mature girls?" Gatomon joked. Tai and Izzy were both getting ideas now, but before they could think them through, Gatomon and Patamon embraced each other and shared a deep kiss, the kind that only two people deeply in love would give each other. Tai and Izzy's jaw's dropped a the sight, but Agumon and Tentomon completely freaked out, falliing back and taking most of the bush with them. Gatomon and Patamon quickly broke the kiss and turned towards the now exposed spies. Both had a look of fear in their eyes.  
  
"Busted..." Patamon whispered, too worried to say anything else. Agumon and Tentomon recovered and walked over to the two, leading them back toward Tai and Izzy.  
  
"Let's get back to camp." Agumon said, walking ahead with Tentomon. Patamon and Gatomon were following them, their heads hanging low. Tai and Izzy stared in shock for a while longer before following the four Digimon. Tai wasn't too surprised at the sight, most of his shock came from other thoughts. The moment he saw the two kiss, he couldn't help but fear the shared emotions from Digidestined to Digimon didn't work both ways.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Next: Chapter 3 -- The Fallen Angel  



	3. Chapter 3: The Fallen Angel

The Greatest Power  
Chapter 3 -- The Fallen Angel  
  
(Author's Note: This is a TK/Kari fic, but expect Tai/Sora and Matt/Mimi in there as well. It's definatly a romance fic, but it'll have plenty of action in there, too. This fanfic is set 4 years after the defeat of Apocalymon and writen before the second Digimon series or movie came to America, so no characters or plots from that series or movie are in this story. Also, so nobody has to fight to think of how they changed in looks, just imagine the TV characters taller and more mature looking, I wont make reference to their clothes so you can imagine them however you want, I thought that would make it easier on you. Please read Chapter 1 and 2 so you'll know everything that's going on in this story. For TK/Kari fans, I'll try to make this chapter make up for the lack in the last one. For those waiting for the action part of this fanfic, it begins here.)  
  
Agumon and Tentomon were escourting Patamon and Gatomon, both with guilty and sad looks on their faces, back to camp. Tai and Izzy were following close behind. Not five minutes ago the four had spied on Gatomon and Patamon kissing and Agumon and Tentomon were still shaken by the sight. Obviously neither one had expected it. Tai and Izzy hadn't, either, but Tai was more worried over what affect it might have on Kari, if their emotion sharing could be passed both ways... Tai didn't have time to think about it before they reached camp, with most everyone looking at them all returning. Joe was out of the water and mostly dry now, Mimi and Matt were back, now holding hands. Sora was at the base of a tree with Biyomon, both waiting for Agumon and Tai to return. Gabumon and Palmon were looking more like Agumon and Biyomon now and TK and Kari popped up at the sight of their Digimon, jumping down from the tree to see them.  
  
"Hey, there you two are!" TK said, running up to where Patamon was standing with Kari close behind, smiling at Gatomon. That's when the two noticed how sad their Digimon looked. TK looked at Tai. "...Something happened, didn't it...?" TK's voice was filled with worry that something bad might have happened. Kari looked up at Tai, the same concerned look on her face. Tai looked down at the two Digimon in question.  
  
"Let's just say they have some explaining to do." Tai said. "It's nothing bad, but I think it's best heard from them." Agumon and Tentomon walked ahead, Tentomon going back to where Izzy left his computer and Agumon over to Biyomon. Tai and Izzy soon joined their Digimon, leaving Patamon and Gatomon the center of attention, their human friends sitting on the ground beside them, waiting to hear what happened.  
  
"Well..." Patamon said, a very nervous tone in his voice. Gatomon stepped in front of him, looking back at him as if to say 'Let me handle it' which Patamon hardly minded. Gatomon was a lot bolder than he was, anyway.  
  
"For the past two years..." Gatomon started, shakey about explaining things. "...me and Patamon have been running off all the time because... we're in love, we have been for a long time, longer than any of you..." The group fell silent, especially TK and Kari who didn't know how to react. "We were afraid that you wouldn't accept it since we're so different, not even on the same Digivolution level..." Gatomon looked back at Patamon, both afraid of what was to come next.  
  
"You didn't have to worry so much!" Biyomon said, surprising Gatomon and Patamon. "We're your friends, no matter what, we'd support you two no matter what was going on." The other Digimon in the group nodded in agreeance. Gatomon and Patamon looked up at TK and Kari, who were smiling at their Digimon, happy for them.  
  
"Besides, you two make a cute couple!" Mimi shouted out of nowhere, making most in the group laugh or giggle. Even Gatomon and Patamon had to laugh a little at the comment. Sora was curious to a few things, though. The holder of the crest of Love couldn't help but be in this matter.  
  
"Do you mind if I ask something?" Sora said, a curious look in her eye. Gatomon and Patamon looked at each other, then shook their heads no. "How did this happen? What started your love interest in each other?" Gatomon gave Patamon another look before stepping back, allowing Patamon to step forward to explain.  
  
"It started two years ago, the last time everyone left." Patamon began, remembering those days all too well. "After Kari was gone, Gatomon kept wandering off. One day I got worried and followed after her. I found her sitting in a group of trees, crying her eyes out. When she saw me she almost ran away before she tripped. I helped her up and started talking to her, doing my best to comfort her." Gatomon just looked at Patamon, her eyes shining a bit, remembering how everything started. "I couldn't stand to see her that sad, I guess... after a few weeks we just knew we were in love, but we were too afraid to bring it out to everyone else so we started running off every now and then to be alone together." Gatomon walked beside Patamon and smiled at him.  
  
"After running off so much for so long," Gatomon said, picking up the story. "I got the idea for us to take the night watches as often as possible so we could have more time together. We've been trying to think of something new, but I guess it's a little late for that." Patamon smiled nervously at that last part. TK and Kari both reached down and hugged their Digimon, happy for them.  
  
"We thought you guys would be the most upset!" Patamon said, still being hugged by TK. Gatomon nodded in agreeance as best she could while in Kari's grasp.  
  
"Of course not!" TK said, letting Patamon go. "I'm glad you found someone you care about so much." TK looked over at Kari, who let go of Gatomon, setting her beside Patamon.  
  
"Besides." Kari said, "Mimi was right, you two do look good together." Kari giggled a little at her own joke. Patamon and Gatomon looked at each other, both happy thier human friends understood. They quickly hugged each other before sharing a kiss. TK and Kari had to look away quickly.  
  
"Just..." TK said. "Could you try not to do that in front of us?" TK looked back at the two, smiling nervously, with Kari soon doing the same. Gatomon and Patamon laughed a little before nodding.  
  
"Well I'm glad that's taken care of." Tai said. Something popped back into his head just then. He kissed Sora on the cheek before getting up and going over to where Izzy was. He was back to typing away at his computer, so Tai was hoping he didn't have to scream his throat out to get his attention this time. "Izzy, I've gotta ask you something..." Tai said. This time Izzy only took a second to realize Tai was there and set his laptop aside.  
  
"Sure, what's up?" Izzy said, expecting something strange.  
  
"That link we have with our Digimon..." Tai said, referning to the shared emotions. "Do you suppose... it could work both ways?" Izzy looked at Tai with a curious look on his face. Tai seemed more serious about the question than Izzy first thought.  
  
"Well I suppose it could be possible..." Izzy said, worrying Tai. "Why do you ask?" Izzy had a good idea why, but just to make sure.  
  
"Well Kari's been acting kind of strange lately..." Tai said, scratching the back of his head. "She was asking a lot of questions about me and Sora and she seemed really nervous about seeing TK yesterday... Guess I'm afraid she's going to get into something she doesn't know about." Izzy nodded, picking his computer back up.  
  
"I understand, you're worried about your little sister." Izzy said. "I won't lie to you, Tai, it is possible that the link goes both ways, but it's just as possible TK and Kari are too young to have that link, or TK and Kari might already be in love for the past 2 years and really did pass it to their Digimon... or, yes, the link may be two way and they'll be in love at some point... could be minutes from now or even decades." All these different things were starting to mix Tai up. "It's just too mysterious of a thing to guess about. I'll get to work on it, though, Gennai might know something about it. I'll look into it as soon as I get these letters translated." Izzy returned to his work on his laptop, typing away at a program Tai never saw before. He knew Izzy had been trying to traanslate the ancient script, but it seemed to be working a lot faster in the Digiworld and decided to leave it at that and started to walk back towards Sora.  
  
Suddenly Izzy's computer started beeping like crazy, alerting everybody at the camp site. Tai ran back to Izzy and kneeled down beside him, getting a good look at whatever the computer was beeping about. Eventually the beeping made everyone curious and Izzy was soon surrounded by everyone, all waiting for some kind of info on what was happening. After a minute, the beeping died down and the computer displayed something new.  
  
"Izzy, what was that?" Matt asked, a bit impatient for answers. "Why did your computer sound like it was having a fit?" Izzy shrugged, typing away to figure out what happened.  
  
"I think it finally managed to translate the script on temple wall." Izzy said, bringing up the list of characters and letters. Izzy read through the translated letters, seeing if it was translated well, then suddenly looked worried. "This isn't good..." Izzy said. Tai tried to start reading the script himself, but couldn't from his angle, the text was too small.  
  
"So what is it?" Tai said, more worried than curious.  
  
"It's a warning..." Izzy said, reading through it again. "It says that the Digidestined's presence in the Digital World is what keeps the evil from emerging. If we leave the Digiworld for too long, evil can grow stronger and take the form of a new evil Digimon." Tai just stared at the monitor, hoping Izzy read it wrong.  
  
"So that's how the Dark Masters came around before?" Joe asked out of nowhere. "Years passed in the Digiworld while we were gone the first time, a few days to us was enough time here to bring out four evil Megas." Most of the group looked at Joe like he never mentioned anything like that before, which he hadn't.  
  
"Impressive, Joe, you're right." Izzy said. "What we should be worried about is if two years was enough time, and if it was, how powerful is this new evil Digimon?" Izzy continued to look over the script, which contained a large passage about the Dark Masters and even told of his defeat at the hands of the holiest angel, or MagnaAngemon as Izzy guessed. After that came something that hadn't happened before, something Izzy didn't remember happening. "I think I just found a new prophecy..." Izzy said, a worried tone in his voice.  
  
"What kind of prophecy?" Tai said, more curious than worried.  
  
"Well it isn't too big on details..." Izzy said, reading it over. "It says 'Atop the highest point in the Digiworld, the wrath of the fallen angel will bring chaos to the world that created him. Angels will fall to his evil, leaving his enemies defeated, until the greatest power shines upon his destruction.' Something tells me two years might have been enough time..." Tai quickly became worried, but tried his best to not make it show.  
  
"Highest point in the Digiworld..." Tai said to himself, thinking of where that might be. Suddenly he remembered and snapped his fingers. "That has to be Infinity Mountain. At least I think it is, I don't know of any place higher than that." Izzy looked at Tai, confused.  
  
"Why would you want to know where this new evil is?" Izzy said. "For all we know he could be worse than all of the Dark Masters, including Apocalymon. Besides, we don't know what 'greatest power' the prophecy's talking about." Tai looked back at Izzy with a look of confidence in his eyes.  
  
"We're the Digidestined, whatever power it takes to beat this evil, I know we've got it!" Tai sounded like the old leader they knew from when they battled Piedmon. "Besides, if we don't take it on now, it might get even stronger than it already is." Izzy nodded, agreeing.  
  
"Wait, you actually want to go back up Infinity Mountain?" Joe said, nervous. "Last time we went up there we got thrown all over the island by Devimon." Joe had a talent for remembering the negative side of things.  
  
"That was years ago, we didn't even have one ultimate level Digimon back then." Tai said, trying to rally some confidence in Joe. "Even if Devimon was still up there, any one of our Digimon could beat him easy." Joe looked around, seeing proud faces on most of the Digimon, including Gomamon.  
  
"Besides, Joe." Gomamon said, hoping to do the same. "You were the one that climbed up there first. If you didn't I might have never Digivolved into Ikkakumon." Gomamon knew he was lying a bit, there were plenty of chances for him to Digivolve after that, but he was hoping it was enough. Joe's face went from worried to relaxed, so it must have.  
  
"Alright, let's go." Joe said. The rest of them stood up, ready to see what was at the top of the mountain. "But it is a long way up and we'll have to get to the top fast." Biyomon and Tentomon flew away from the group and back into the middle of the clearing.  
  
"Leave that to us!" Biyomon said, winking at the group.  
  
"One Digitaxi coming up!" Tentomon said. The entire group wondered what they were up to, until Izzy and Sora's Digivices beeped, signaling their Digivolutions.  
  
"Biyomon Digivolve to..." Biyomon flashed with a surge of red energy. A quick flash of red light and Biyomon was replaced by a familiar fanged firebird. "Birdramon!" the firebird yelled, stretching her wings out as far as they would go.  
  
"Tentomon Digivolve to..." Tentomon felt the familiar surge of energy that came with Digivolving. A flash of energy and he was replaced by a large, 6 armed blue bug with a single, vicious looking horn. "Kabuterimon!" The bug yelled, happy to be in his Champion form after so long.  
  
"Well it beats walking on foot." Matt said, watching the two Digimon. They both bended down to let everyone on board. Tai and Sora took seats on Birdramon's claws, with Agumon, TK, Kari, Patamon and Gatomon taking seats along her back, all grabbing onto her feathers for support. Agumon liked his seat on her shoulders, holding onto her neck. TK and Kari were near the back, their Digimon sitting together in front of them. Kabuterimon was carrying Izzy, Matt, Joe, Mimi, Gabumon, Gomamon and Palmon on is back. He had to carry everyone at once before, so this wasn't much of a problem for him. Mimi held onto Matt tight for support, which he didn't seem to mind. Once everyone was on and set, Birdramon and Kabuterimon slowly lifted from the ground till they were above the trees, then flew straight for Infinity Mountain in the dead center of the island. They were trying to fly slow so they wouldn't throw anyone off on accident. The group on Birdramon didn't have trouble, it was the group on Kabuterimon's back that had trouble, with no real hand supports on his back.  
  
TK was sitting next to Kari, keeping his eyes half closed to try to keep out some of the wind. As it was the wind in his face was making his eyes water a little. It eventually got so bad he had to turn his head to the side to stop it, letting his eyes open all the way without trouble. He looked at Kari to his left, who was having the same trouble, only she kept her eyes completely shut. TK watched her for a second, mainly because he couldn't look ahead and face the wind again, but also because something in the back of his head didn't want to look away. He watched the wind throw her short brown hair around, sending most of it straight back. For a while it even looked longer than it really was. TK couldn't explain why, but he liked watching her, even though she wasn't doing much. TK snapped out of it as Karri had to turn her head too, now facing away from TK. TK couldn't help but feel disappointed somehow.  
  
*What are you thinking?* TK thought to himself. *You never thought like this before, especially about your best friend...* TK couldn't help but look back at Kari, who was still holding her head to the side. He looked ahead, keeping his head low so he didn't have to close his eyes, and saw Gatomon and Patamon, holding hands. *Hard to believe Patamon fell in love...* TK thought. *Wonder if I'll ever fall in love like that...* He gave one last look over at Kari, who was doing her best to look ahead again. *I wonder...* Kari had her eyes half open now, but TK was wishing they were all the way open... he always did like her crimson brown eyes for some reason, they just seemed so... "Beautiful..." TK said out loud. He quickly put a hand up to his mouth, realizing what he just said.  
  
"Did you say something?" Kari said, looking over at TK. TK put his hand back to his side, grabbing a handful of Birdramon's feathers.  
  
"No, nothing." TK said, covering up. "Just thinking out loud, that's all." He was relieved Kari didn't hear his slipped thought. At least he thought he was...  
  
"Better finish the thought quick." Kari said, pointing ahead. "I think we're almost there." TK looked ahead and saw she was right, they were close to Infinity Mountain now. TK remembered it all too well, remembering the day Patamon first became Angemon. TK looked up at thee peak and saw something he didn't remember, though... TK stared at it, trying to see what it was, when he realized something.  
  
"Hey, my eyes aren't watering..." TK said, rubbing his eyes lightly. "We're slowing down!" Agumon heard the comment and panicked a little.  
  
"Birdramon, what's happening?" Agumon asked urgently. Birdramon looked back at them, a pained look in her eyes.  
  
"My wings are getting sore..." Birdramon said, a hint of pain in her voice. "I haven't been Birdramon in so long my wings aren't used to these long flights anymore... I'll have to land soon or we'll crash..." Birdramon looked to her side and saw Kabuterimon with the same pained look on his face, or whatever a pained look is on the oversized bug. Birdramon nodded at him, signalling him to land. Kabuterimon nodded back, slowly lowering towards the ground. Birdramon did the same, gliding now more than flying. The two's slow decent was keeping them farther and farther from the top of the mountain, but they were still high enough to land on a large, barren area about halfway up the mountain. Once they landed, everyone piled off, taking the weight off the Digimon's backs. Sora looked up at Birdramon with concern.  
  
"Birdramon, shouldn't you dedigivolve?" Sora asked, worried. "You'd rest faster as Biyomon." Birdramon shook her head no.  
  
"Don't worry about me." Birdramon replied back. "Soon as our wings are rested up we'll fly you the rest of the way." Birdramon looked over at Kabuterimon, who was rubbing his sore wings lightly.  
  
"Yeah, we're tough Digimon." Kabuterimon said. "Just give us an hour or so to rest up." Birdramon quickly shot a stern look at Kabuterimon, making him nervous. "Well... maybe half an hour would be okay?" Birdramon nodded, agreeing, which relieved Kabuterimon. Most of the others couldn't help but laugh. TK stopped his laughing as he remembered something and walked over to Tai.  
  
"Hey Tai?" He said to get his attention. "Do you still have that little telescope with you?" Tai looked over at TK curously.  
  
"Yeah, never leave the real world without it!" Tai said, pulling it from his pocket. "Why do you need it?" Tai started to hand it to TK.  
  
"I don't really." TK said, pushing the telescope back to Tai. "Just take a look at the top of the mountain really quick, I think I saw something new up there." Tai looked up at the peak, too far away to see himself, then put the telescope up to his eye. What he saw surprised him a bit.  
  
"You're right." Tai said, still looking. "There's something up there... it looks kind of like a castle... except it's all black, like some evil story book castle." TK looked up towards the peak, trying to see it with his naked eyes, but unable to. Infinity Mountain was just too tall. Tai put away the telescope. "Well there's definatly something happening up there..." He said to everyone. "Might as well start walking up, we won't get anywhere waiting for an air lift to the top." The rest nodded, even Kabuterimon and Birdramon. They didn't want to hold up everybody anyway.  
  
The group started their walk up the mountain's spiraling trail, with Birdramon and Kabuterimon leading the way just in case. As they were walking, TK kept thinking back to his thoughts on the ride over. He never thought about Kari like that before, especially never thought of her as beautiful. Now, however, as he looked at her walking up the mountain, he couldn't think of her any other way.  
  
*Snap out of it, TK.* TK thought to himself. *You never thought of Kari like that, why are you suddenly thinking it now?* TK then looked at Patamon and Gatomon, walking hand in hand, or paw in paw, whichever way you saw it. *Maybe it's because Patamon's in love... Other than Kari he's my best friend... Seeing him so happy does make me wish I loved someone as much as that... but why would Kari love me, anyway? It's not like I'm the best guy or best looking...* TK was still staring at Kari as he walked. Kari's eyed wandered towards him, eventually meeting his eyes. They both looked away quickly, embarassed. *...Then again...* TK'' thoughts were interupted by a sudden loud noise ahead of the group. TK looked around and saw what looked like a large black dragon flying around the mountain, glaring at the group. TK looked ahead again and saw a second one, spitting black balls of fire at Birdramon and Kabuterimon.  
  
"What are those things?!" Tai yelled, pulling Sora to the ground to avoid a fireball. Izzy pulled out his laptop and quickly looked up the two dragons on his scanning program.  
  
"Those are DarkDracomon." Izzy announced, finding their profiles on his computer. "They're minions of this new evil. They're only champion level, but any kind of Dracomon is exceptionally powerful." Izzy looked up, then jumped to the side, barely avoiding a fireball. Birdramon flew from the ground, her wings not quite at full strength, and prepaired to face the dragons. She looked back at Sora, who was clutching onto Tai. Her crest on her chest was glowing bright red, giving Birdramon the go ahead.  
  
"Birdramon Digivolve to..." Birdramon erupted into a wall of flames. As the flames engulfed her, she began her change, gaining arms, stronger wings and powerful legs. When the flames died, the new Digimon stretched her wings and pumped her arms. "Garudamon!" Garudamon immediatly flew after the dragons, splitting them up. Garudamon stopped in midair, then flew higher into the air. "Wing Blade!" Garudamon fired a massive flame into the air that arched down, flying towards one of the DarkDracomons. It hit hard, throwing the black dragon Digimon back. It quickly regained itself, flying at Garudamon fast. The other DarkDracomon was heading back, flying at Garudamon just as fast as its partner. Kabuterimon had enough of sitting on the side lines and flew up after one of the dragons.  
  
"Kabuterimon Digivolve to...." Kabuterimon surged with electric energy, charging his whole body. Waves of electricity went through him, giving every part of his body it passed over brown armor, including his horn, which now had a vicious spike at the top. It finished by giving him a thick shell, complete with a crystal in the center of his back. "MegaKabuterimon!" The new Digimon flew after one of the DarkDracomons, flying like a jet, with flames coming out from under his shell like engines. As soon as he was close enough, MegaKabuterimon drove his horn into the gut of one DarkDracomon, knocking it from the sky and to a legde of the mountain. MegaKabuterimon turned to face the dragon he knocked from the sky. "Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon fired a beam of electricity at the DarkDracomon, causing an explosion of rock and electricity. When the dust faded the DarkDracomon was gone, leaving just his friend.  
  
"Black Inferno!" The remaining DarkDracomon screamed, blowing a blast of flames at both of his attackers, knocking them back to the mountain. Luckily they weren't hurt bad enough to make them dedigivolve. Palmon left her spot beside Gabumon and Mimi and ran to the edge of the cliff.  
  
"Palmon Digivolve to..." A quick flash of power and Palmon was replaced by a familiar cactus with hollow eyes and mouth. "Togemon!" Togemon wasn't done there, though, continuing her Digivolution. "Togemon Digivolve to..." The bloom on Togemon's head grew and flew off in a flash of power. The bloom opened, revealing an almost human looking Digimon with vines for hair and a pink rose on her head. She even had a set of leaves for wings. "Lillymon!" Her Digivolving finished, Lillymon flew from the cliff, taking up the fight herself. DarkDracomon turned his beam of black flames at her, but her size made her faster, dodging the flames easily. Lillymon flew higher as the flower around her wrist grew, forming a bud over her hand. "Flower Cannon!" She fired a green blast at DarkDracomon, blasting him hard and sending him tumbling to the ground at the base of the mountain. Lillymon landed near Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon, checking on their condition.  
  
"What was that all about?" Sora said, still hanging onto Tai.  
  
"Guess someone up there doesn't like visitors..." Matt said, holding onto Mimi. Everyone looked up now, wondering what was up there. They didn't have to wonder long, though, seeing a new figure falling from above. The three Ultimates took to the air again, ready for whatever it was that was coming down. To everyone's surprise, what was coming down looked more human than Digimon. It sort of looked like Angemon, but with six dark wings and vicious looking armor. The human areas of him were a dark shade of skin and any part of him that would be white on Angemon was dark grey or black. Instead of a short staff, he was carrying a sickle with a black blade. His helmet featured small spikes instead of the small bumps on Angemon's helmet.  
  
"Impressive..." The black angel said. "But my lackies were nothing compaired to what you now face. I am DarkAngemon, lord of this mountain and soon the entire Digiworld. You humans and your Digimon can't hope to defeat me!" Tai was getting mad at the arrogant tome coming from DarkAngemon.  
  
"Guess this is the prophecy's fallen angel..." Izzy said, watching the black angel flying in front of them.  
  
"You don't know who you're messing with!" Tai warned. He turned toward Agumon, a confident smile on his face. "You're up, Agumon!" Agumon turned to Tai and nodded, understanding. He ran to the cliffs egde, staring at DarkAngemon.  
  
"Agumon Warp-digivolve to..." Agumon quickly Digivolved into Greymon, then into MetalGreymon, finally into his Mega form. Large plates of armor dawned his arms, extenting metal claws. Leg and chest armor followed, finishing with a large shield on his back designed with the Crest of Courage. The shield split, forming short wings. "WarGreymon!" The Digivolution finished, with WarGreymon standing on the edge of the cliff.  
  
"Not impressive..." DarkAngemon said. "Takes more than such a puny Mega to defeat my power." DarkAngemon swung his sickle, aiming it at WarGreymon in challenge.  
  
"We'll see who the puny one is!" WarGreymon said as he flew up at DarkAngemon, slashing with his claws. DarkAngemon was fast and dodged them easily, then slashed WarGreymon across the shield on his back, knocking him away. WarGreymon recovered fast, flying higher into the air. He raised his arms, forming a ball of energy above him. "Terra Force!" WarGreymon threw the ball of energy down at DarkAngemon. The dark angel swung his sickle into the blast, knocking it toward the cliff the Digidestined were standing on.  
  
"Gabumon, quick!" Matt shouted, seeing the blast heading for them.  
  
"Gabumon Warp-digivolve to..." Gabumon Digivolved to Garurumon, then into WereGarurumon, and finally into his Mega level form. His metalic wings and tail extended out, glowing with energy. The armored wolf armed a mass of missles and weapons, all ready for combat. "MetalGarurumon!" The metalic wolf charged forward, facing the oncoming blast. "Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon fired a massive blue flame at the blast, countering it. With that threat over, MetalGarurumon flew up to join the fight, flying beside WarGreymon.  
  
"I've got an idea!" Patamon said out of nowhere. "Who better to battle an evil angel than a pair of good angels?" Patamon looked over at Gatomon, who was smiling at Patamon. TK and Kari smiled at their Digimon, holding their beeping Digivices. Patamon and Gatomon walked to the edge of the cliff, watching the fight.  
  
"Patamon Digivolve to..." A storm of white feathers surrounded Patamon. A flash of white energy hit Patamon and replaced him with a white angel holding a golden short staff. "Angemon!" Angemon looked glad to be back in his champion form, flapping his wings a little.  
  
"Gatomon Digivolve to..." Gatomon's Digivolution was different from most others. In a surge of pink light, she shapeshifts into a human woman, dressed in an outfit of a warrior angel. As the pink light fades, 8 large wings and a helmet, the same Angemon wears, covers her eyes and a long glove with two small wings at the wrist slips over her left arm. "Angewomon!" Angewomon looked just as happy to be in her angel form again. The two angels flew into the air, putting DarkAngemon between them and the two Megas.  
  
"Two Megas and two angels." Tai said with confidence. "No way some blacck angel can beat that." Izzy was looking for a profile on DarkAngemon on his laptop. Tai looked over at him, waiting for the profile's info.  
  
"Found it, DarkAngemon." Izzy announced. "He's only an Ultimate level Digimon, but you know angel Digimon, they're way more powerful than their Digivolution level. For all we know DarkAngemon could be stronger than any Mega." Izzy looked back up at Tai and saw a hint of worry in his eyes, but he tried his best not to show it. Tai turned back towards the battle, which was starting to pick up.  
  
*This is the best we've got...* Tai thought to himself. *This has to be the greatest power... it has to be!* Tai wasn't sure if he believed that or if he was trying to convince himself. Either way, he knew they had to win. Tai watched as WarGreymon started spinning fast, getting ready to drill into DarkAngemon.  
  
"Terra Force!" WarGreymon threw himself at DarkAngemon, spinning with his claws extended. DarkAngemon stayed floating in the air, not worried somehow. Just before WarGreymon was about to drill through him, DarkAngemon raised an arm and actually grabbed WarGreymon's arm in mid spin, surprising everyone. WarGreymon was dazed from the sudden stop. Before he could recover, DarkAngemon spun around, throwing WarGreymon at MetalGarurumon. The metal wolf flew under WarGreymon, catching him on his back.  
  
"Child's play..." DarkAngemon gloated, aiming a fist at the two Megas. "Hand of Desrtuction!" An explosion of black energy came from his fist, then quicly focused into a beam, firing at MetalGarurumon. MetalGarurumon tried to dodge, but with WarGreymon on his back he couldn't get away fast enough and was hit hard across his side, sending both Megas out of the air and crashing hard onto the mountain cliff. Angemon had enough as he withdrew his staff, forming it into energy in his fist. Angemon extended the wings on her wrist, forming a bow and arrow of light.  
  
"Hand of Fate!" Angemon shot his fist forward, firing a golden beam of pure power.  
  
"Celestrial Arrow!" Angewomon pulled back on the light arrow and let it fly, sending it for DarkAngemon. DarkAngemon turned to see the two angels, still unconcerned. DarkAngemon pulled his sickle back and swung it fast at the two attacks. The beam of energy from Angemon burst on contact, havinf no effect. Angewomon's arrow was split down the middle, sending the two halves of the arrow to the ground far below. Both angels floated there, not believeing what they just saw.  
  
"This can't be happening!" Matt said, staring on at the black angel. "He can't be this powerful!" The rest of them couldn'tt help but stare as well. Their Digimon were never dominated like this before, even against Apocalymon. Tai and Matt looked over at their Digimon, who were starting to recover.  
  
"You two don't know when to stay down..." DarkAngemon said, aiming his sickle at them. He raised it above his head like he was prepairing to slash down at them. "Falling Heavens!" DarkAngemon swung the sickle down hard, stopping when the blade was pointing at the two Megas. A storm of black energy bolts fired from the blade and down at WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Both tried to fly away but the blasts were flying too fast, hitting them too hard. Eventually the blasts were too much and they were forced to return to their Rookie forms as DarkAngemon let up his assault. Agumon and Gabumon laid there, too tired and hurt to even move. Tai and Matt rushed over and checked their Digimon over, making sure they were alright.  
  
"That does it!" MegaKabuterimon said, still watching the fight. "This guy's mine!" MegaKabuterimon flew at the black angel as fast as he could with Lillymon and Garudamon quickly following him. DarkAngemon turned to see the three Ultimates joining the two angels in the air behind him. Gomamon was looking on beside Joe, wishing there was more land underneath him so he could become Zudomon. Since his Ultimate form couldn't fly he couldn't do anything but watch and hope.  
  
"You can't win..." DarkAngemon warned the five Digimon floating in front of him. "My power is beyond compair, beyond anything you have ever known." MegaKabuterimon had enough and fired a Horn Buster at the dark angel, with Garudamon and Lillymon firing Wing Blade and Flower Cannon soon after. DarkAngemon aimed a fist at the attacks and blasted them with his Hand of Destruction, countering the attacks and blasting the three attackers from the sky. Once they hit the cliff they had to Dedigivolve to their Rookie forms, too weak to maintain their Ultimate levels. Angemon and Angewomon fired their attacks again while DarkAngemon was looking away, but he was too fast and spun around to deflect the blasts. DarkAngemon raised his sickle and fired his Falling Heavens attack, forcing the two angels to the cliff below. Angemon landed behind Angewomon and put himself on top of her, doing his best to block the attack from hurting her, but the blasts were coming too fast and both were hurt badly, dedigivolving back into Patamon and Gatomon, with Patamon still lying on top of Gatomon to protect her. TK and Kari watched their Digimon fall in horror, not believing DarkAngemon was that powerful.  
  
"Angels will fall to his evil, leaving his enemies defeated..." Izzy whispered, remembering the passage from the prophecy.  
  
"This battle is over!" DarkAngemon shouted, holding his sickle in his arms in victory. Tai left Agumon's side and shook a fist at Angemon, not ready to quit.  
  
"No way!" Tai yelled. "We don't give up that easily!" Tai didn't know how he was going to back that up, but he didn't have to. A large stomping sound came from farther up the path. Tai looked over to see what looked like a Monochromon, but he was walking on his hind legs. His normally dark grey parts were replaced by sleek metal and had a few more spikes than usual. His horn also had a bladed edge to it now. Another one came behind it, then two more came up from the path behind them.  
  
"These are my MetalMonochromon." DarkAngemon announced. "They will take you to my castle where you shall be my prisoners. With you annoyances out of the way, the Digiworld will fall easily." Tai glared at the black angel in defiance, as did the rest of the Digidestined.  
  
"What makes you think this fight's over?!" Tai shouted. DarkAngemon glared at Tai strangely. Tai was suddenly englufed in black energy, then thrown back into the rock face of the mountain, pinning him there. Tai was struggling to move, bbut he couldn't even budge.  
  
"This battle ends now..." DarkAngemon threatened. "or I shall write it's conclusion." DarkAngemon turned to the rest of the Digidestined. "You will come willingly or your leader will be destroyed, I suggest you decide fast." Sora was watching Tai struggling, almost in tears. Everyone else was looking around at each other, hoping for an answer from someone.  
  
"...I guess we don't have a choice..." Matt said finally, lowering his head. "We'll go, just let Tai go!" Matt hated to submit like that, but as much as he couldn't believe it, Tai was his best friend. DarkAngemon smiled evily, satisfied. He glared at Tai again and the black energy around him faded, dropping Tai to the ground, who was weak from struggling. Sora immediatly ran over to him, checking to make sure he was alright. One of the MetalMonochromons was immediatly standing over both of them. It fired a chain from it's hand that wrapped around Tai's midsection, forcing his arms against his sides and pulling him to his feet. Sora shot a tear filled glare at DarkAngemon.  
  
"You said you'd let him go!" Sora yelled. DarkAngemon just looked at her.  
  
"And I shall..." the dark angel responded. "Once you are all "safely" in my castle's dungeons." DarkAngemon turned to his metal minions. "Take them to my palace, I shall be waiting there." With that the evil angel flew back up towards the peak of the castle, leaving the Digidestined and their weakened and battered Digimon at the mercy of the MetalMonochromon. The metalic guards led them upwards, towards the peak of Infinity Mountan and DarkAngemon's castle. All the time, Tai was mentally kicking himself for being so confident, thinking they had the great power they needed... By the time he knew he was wrong, it was too late...  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Next: Chapter 4 -- Escape!  
  
Want to see DarkAngemon? Take a look:  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/CyberDracomon/images/DarkAngemon.gif  



	4. Chapter 4: Escape!

The Greatest Power  
Chapter 4 -- Escape!  
  
(Author's Note: This is a TK/Kari fic, but expect Tai/Sora and Matt/Mimi in there as well. It's definatly a romance fic, but it'll have plenty of action in there, too. This fanfic is set 4 years after the defeat of Apocalymon and writen before the second Digimon series or movie came to America, so no characters or plots from that series or movie are in this story. Also, so nobody has to fight to think of how they changed in looks, just imagine the TV characters taller and more mature looking, I wont make reference to their clothes so you can imagine them however you want, I thought that would make it easier on you. Please read Chapters 1, 2 and 3 so you'll know everything that's going on in this story. This chapter won't have the action of the last, but it has all the TK/Kari romance any fan could want.)  
  
The Digidestined and their Digimon were nearing the top of Infinity Mountain, still being lead by their captors, DarkAngemon's MetalMonochromon. The two in back were pushing anyone that fell too far behind while the two up front lead the way, one of them still holding Tai, wrapped in his chain. He was on his feet and could walk, but the metalic guard gave a tug every now and then to speed Tai up. They had surrendered out of fear for Tai's safety. Somehow DarkAngemon knew just how to get at their emotions and turn them against themselves.  
  
TK and Kari were almost in the back of the pack, being a little slower than the others. TK was holding Patamon in his arms, still really hurt from the fight and unable to walk of fly on his own. Gatomon was being carried by Kari, though she wasn't hurt as badly thanks to Patamon.  
  
"TK... Gatomon..." Patamon choked out weakly. "Sorry I didn't fight better..." Kari walked closer to TK, letting Gatomon take ahold of Patamon's paw.  
  
"Don't worry about it." Gatomon said, trying to comfort him. "None of us could have beaten DarkAngemon and you did your best." Patamon gave a weak sigh before suddenly going to sleep, too weak to stay awake. Gatomon's eyes teared up slightly. "He got hurt protecting me..." Gatomon said, sobbing a little. "I should have been the one fighting better..." Kari pulled Gatomon closer, trying to comfort her.  
  
"Like you said, none of you could beat DarkAngemon." Kari said. "Besides, we'll get another chance sooner or later." Gatomon didn't seem to share Kari's confidence, but smiled anyway, glad someone in the group had some hope. Kari looked over at TK, who was looking down at Patamon in worry. Something in her mind hated seeing TK so sad... Kari couldn't help but feel... somehow hurt by seeing him so sad. Kari started to feel sad just by seeing him like this, but why she didn't know... Kari didn't have much time to think, however, as they had reached the top. The black castle was much larger than any of them had imagined and much more vicious looking, with spikes and horns decorating the various towers and pillars of the castle. At the top of the path, on each side of it, were two powerful looking Digimon they hadn't seen before. They looked like triceratops dinosaurs standing on their hind legs and with a slightly humanoid look to them.  
  
"Hmm, I know those two." Tentomon said, riding on Izzy's back, too banged up to fly or walk. "They're Triceramon, the best guards in the Digiworld since all they know is brute force. Nothing short of an atomic bomb can move them." The two Triceramon did look brutish, with bloodshot eyes and clenched teeth. They almost looked like they were waiting for one of them to step out of line so they could put their strength to good use. Nobody did dare do that, though, allowing the MetalMonochromons to lead them to the front of the palace. Even the doorway looked dangerous, with spiked columbs on both sides of the door. The metal guards in front opened the massive twin doors, pulling Tai in by the chain with Agumon and Sora following close behind. One by one, everyone else entered, the last two MetalMonochromons closing the doors behind them and dropping a bar down on the doors, locking them.  
  
Inside everything looked as dangerous and dark as it did on the outside, but the entire place did have a more regal design than they had expected. They were in a large dark room with only a pale light from the few lit candles around the room. Gargoyle statues were placed at the corners of the room, all facing a fairly large throne in the back of the room. The area around it was so dark nobody could tell if someone was sitting in the throne or not.  
  
"Well he could definatly use a good decorator." Mimi said out of nowhere. Coming from anyone else it would have been a joke, but everyone knew Mimi was probably serious.  
  
"If you don't mind, I prefer my decore the way it is." Someone said from the back of the room. Two torches near the throne suddenly burst into flames, lighting up most of the room and revealing DarkAngemon on the throne, his sickle leaning against it. "Much better than what Devimon did with his old temple up here..." DarkAngemon stood and started walking towards the group, waving the MetalMonochromon to the side. The one that had it's chain around Tai withdrew it, pulling it back into his hand and freeing Tai.  
  
"What do you want with us?!" Tai yelled, still angry at the dark angel.  
  
"Simple..." DarkAngemon said. "I just want you out of the way. You stand no chance to defeat me, but your presence annoys me, so I will simply get rid of you." With that, DarkAngemon raised a fist that was glowing with black energy. Everyone looked around, expecting something, but they didn't notice much, until they looked at their Digivices, which were surrounded by the back energy. Before they could grab onto them, the black energy pulled them away, landing them into DarkAngemon's open hands. "In case you get any ideas... Your Digimon won't be healed till morning, but without these you don't stand a chance of escaping with them." DarkAngemon gripped the 8 Digivices tightly, almost mocking his prisoners. Without thinking, Kari suddenly ran at DarkAngemon, catching him off guard, and tried to tackle him. Kari hit him with all her force, but barely made him budge. DarkAngemon looked down at her, angry, then waved his fist in her direction, throwing her back through the air. TK ran at her out of instinct and did his best to catch Kari before she hit the ground, only to get knocked to the hard rock floor along with her.  
  
"Thanks, TK..." Kari whispered, dazed by the invisible hit she recieved. The two remained on the ground, watching one of the MetalMonochromons walk over to the evil angel, holding a small open treasure chest. DarkAngemon turned and dumped the Digivices in his hands into the chest before shutting and locking it himself. DarkAngemon then turned to Kari, and even though you couldn't see his eyes, it was easy to tell he wasn't happy.  
  
"Be glad you did little more than annoy me, girl..." DarkAngemon warned, returning to his throne. He seemed to be in thought about something.  
  
"How did you come around, anyway?" Izzy finally asked, his curious side getting the better of him. DarkAngemon seemed to look at Izzy for a second before wickedly laughing a little.  
  
"Heh... Believe it or not I admire a curious mind..." DarkAngemon said, grabbing his sickle. "Very well... For the next few hours you are my guests, not my prisoners..." Everyone looked at each other, confused about this sudden change of attitude. Even the MetalMonochromon guards looked a little confused. The dark angel looked toward one of the MetalMonochromon. "Lead them to the dining hall, such adversaries deserve one last decent meal before being imprisoned in my dungeons." That last part worried everyone a little, but they didn't have any other choice and followed the guard into the next room, which was hopefully not the dungeon.  
  
It wasn't, though. Instead it looked like DarkAngemon was telling the truth. The room was definatly a dining hall, with a very long banquet table covered in food like this had been his plan all along. The table even had places for everyone, including DarkAngemon, who took a seat at the far end of the table. From there he waved to Tai to take the seat at the other end of the table. Tai did, even though he was still mad at the dark angel. Everyone else, including their Digimon, took seats at the table, except for Patamon, still too weak to leave TK's arms. Izzy was the last to take a seat and ended up with the one closest to DarkAngemon, making him nervous. Still his curiosity was overpowering him, making him take the seat anyway.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Izzy asked. "Feeding us and trusting us not to run off or fight back?" DarkAngemon looked in Izzy's direction, his helmet gleaming a little in the torch light.  
  
"Your Digimon are mostly still injured and they cannot Digivolve without your Digivices, I know even if you thought you could escape, you'd get no farther than my guards." Izzy and everyone else looked back at the door they came in at to see a MetalMonochromon and a Triceramon standing there, blocking their only exit. "Besides, although I am a virus Digimon I am also an angel Digimon, I can have a great deal of mercy when I wish to. In fact once the Digiworld is mine you shall be released from my captivity and returned to your own world." For a second Izzy thought DarkAngemon wasn't totally bad, until he snapped back into reality.   
  
Most had started eating the various foods on the table, though everyone was cautious with it and ate slowly, not wanting to be thrown into the dungeon so soon. TK and Kari seemed to be the only ones not eating, after the incident in the main room they weren't too trusting in DarkAngemon. Eventually hunger got the better of them as they both reached for a leg off of a roasted turkey, or at least that's what it looked like. Their hands hit each others as they went for the leg, both pulling back their hands quickly out of embarrassment. TK left the leg and grabbed for a nearby bowl of soup, letting Kari take the turkey leg. TK looked down at Patamon, then spooned out some of the soup and brought it down to his Digimon, trying to get some food in him. Patamon was still weak, but did manage to eat a few spoonfulls of soup before falling asleep again. TK couldn't do more but finish the bowl of soup himself.  
  
"I'd still like to know where you came from." Izzy said between bites of a pie. "I've never heard of a virus type angel, it's still hard to believe." DarkAngemon looked across the table at Tai, who still looked irritated. DarkAngemon was the only one not eating, leaving him free to speak.  
  
"My origins may involve your group more than you realize." DarkAngemon said. The room had a good deal of harmonics to it so nobody had trouble hearing him. "It started many years ago, but for you it may have only been 4 or 5 years. Before Piedmon had stolen the tags and crests, he was working on building his own dark army, one of Mega Digimon that nobody could stop. His goal was never to have just himself and three other Megas, but to have an entire army of Dark Masters. He would take Digimon from everywhere in the Digital World and warp them with his evil power, making them Digivolve into evil Digimon to serve him. Three of his "failed experiments" you know, Devimon, Etemon and Myotismon. Piedmon was satisfied with them and knew the three would one day be unstopable Megas, so he entrusted Etemon with hiding the crests and Devimon with the tags. Myotismon, however, craved more power, so Piedmon allowed him to attempt to take over your world. To his disappointment, Devimon was destroyed before he could reach even his Ultimate stage and MetalEtemon proved a sorry excuse for a Mega, falling to a single Ultimate and Mega level Digimon. When Myotismon became VenomMyotismon, it was everything he had hoped for, desiring a Mega of superior size, but he, too, was weaker than Piedmon had hoped for. By then, of course, he had already suceeded in creating MetalSeadramon, Puppetmon and Machinedramon. It was enough to take over the Digital World, but he craved more. Then he remembered the Digimon that had defeated Devimon, who would have been the strongest of any Mega he created, in a single blast. Seeing the power a properly Digivolved Patamon, he captured one and imprisoned it inside Infinity Mountain. After being fed black gears, it became an Angemon, but it was corrupt, with more evil intentions than good. In that form, the Angemon was being fed by the black gears that imprisoned him rather than hurt by them. Years passed... eventually Piedmon and his Dark Masters were destroyed at your hands and the corrupted angel was forgotten. After another 3 years of waiting, the Angemon finally digivolved, giving birth to me. In my new ultimate form I found I had immense power, unmatched by anything. It allowed me to create this palace and build my army, and it will soon allow me to take over the Digiworld, whick my creator Piedmon failed to do." With his story told, DarkAngemon reached for a nearby gobblet and took a sip from it. Everyone had to admit, it was quite a story. Most of them did wonder about how Digimon like Etemon, Myotismon and Devimon came to be. It was strange to think of them as Piedmon's failed experiments.  
  
"Did Piedmon have any other Digimon he was attempting to create?" Izzy asked, still curious. DarkAngemon looked at him again.  
  
"Just a warning, my curious friend." DarkAngemon said. "There's a fine line between being curious and being nosey... watch that you don't cross it." Izzy took the warning to heart and decided to make any further questions a bit lighter. "To my knowledge, I was Piedmon's last experiment before being destroyed by you, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did try to create another Mega level Devimon. He always was especially disappointed by it's failure." DarkAngemon stood from his seat and looked around the table. Most everyone had finished eating and the Digimon looked better as well, even Patamon, who was now awake and sitting in TK's lap. "Now that my story is told and you've finished your meal, you are no longer my welcomed guests, but my prisoners." The MetalMonochrmon and Triceramons returned, surrounding the table and the Digidestined and Digimon. They all stood at once, ready to fight, but their Digimon couldn't Digivolve anyway and they were still injured. DarkAngemon was right when he said it would be morning before their Digimon were recovered completely. "This was part of the deal." DarkAngemon said. "You will only be my prisoners until the Digiworld is mine, then you shall be returned home, I'll even spare your Digimon friends and send them with you." Tai glared back at DarkAngemon in defiance. As he looked around, though, seeing the ultimate level Digimon all around, leaving no escape route, his eyes lost their rebelious look.  
  
"...Guys, we don't have a choice..." Tai said, feeling defeated. "He's too strong, even if we had our Digivices we can't beat him..." Sora couldn't believe Tai was saying this, but as she looked around herself, the situation did look hopeless. The rest saw the same and gave in, though none of them were ready to give up permanently. They watched as two large doors on both sides of the dining hall opened up, revealing two dark hallways that didn't seem to be used much, with cobwebs and dust decorating the hallways.  
  
"Any preference as to who goes to what dungeon?" One of the MetalMonochromon said in a harsh voice. DarkAngemon looked them over, then raised a fist, glowing black with energy. Suddenly Tai, Sora, TK, Kari, Agumon, Biyomon, Patamon and Gatomon were thrown to one side of the room, towards the west dungeon. Matt, Mimi, Joe, Izzy, Gabumon, Palmon, Gomamon and Tentomon were thrown to the east dungeon. DarkAngemon stopped glowing and lowered his fist. The guards easily understood, dragging or pushing the groups into the dungeons DarkAngemon had selected. His selection was very specific, though, it had to be if his plan was to suceed.  
  
**********  
  
Tai and his group soon found themselves being lead down a long, fairly large hallway. It was very wide and tall so it could easily accomodate the large MetalMonochromon. For a second he thought of turning around and fighting his way out, but with two MetalMonochromon behind him made him think otherwise. They wouldn't be a problem for WarGreymon or even MetalGreymon if he just had his Digivice. It was locked in DarkAngemon's chest, though, definatly out of his reach from here.  
  
Finally the 8 prisoners found themselves in a mostly steel room with 8 cells, 4 on each side. There was a Triceramon in the back, apparently the guard for the dungeon, sitting beside a large lever. He reached down and gave it a sharp tug, pulling it back and opening the 8 cells. The MetalMonochromon seemed to throw everyone in at random, not careing where the prisoners wound up. TK, Kari, Sora and Biyomon were thrown into the cells on one side while Patamon, Agumon, Gatomon and Tai were thrown into the cells on the other side. With everyone in, Triceramon pushed forward on the lever, shutting all the cell doors. Tai immediatly ran up to his and shook the door as hard as he could, testing how strong the bars were. It was no use, though, DarkAngemon had built the dungeon to withstand anything they could try in their state. After a few minutes, Tai gave up and took a seat against the wall closest to Sora's cell. He wanted to at least see her as long as they were trapped there. Sora had the same idea, sitting against the wall closest to Tai's cell.  
  
"Sorry all this happened, Sora..." Tai said, breaking the silence of the dungeon. The Triceramon on guard didn't seem to mind them talking. In fact he seemed to be paying attention to every word.  
  
"It's not your fault." Sora said, trying to comfort him. "DarkAngemon was just too powerful. At least we know he won't keep us here forever." Tai looked more upset than at ease from the comment.  
  
"That isn't fair, though..." Tai said. "We shouldn't just sit here and let him take the Digiworld just for our freedom..." Sora knew he was right, but she also didn't see any other option to it.  
  
"I know, Tai, but we can't get out of here." Sora said in dismay. She really hated admiting that, but the way things were going, it was true.  
  
"I'll think of a way..." Tai said, his familiar defiant look in his eyes. "There has to be a way..." Tai dropped his head in thought. Sora decided it was best to leave it at that and slumped back against the wall a little, doing her best to get comfortable in the stone cell.  
  
Meanwhile, TK was looking over at the cell across from him with the still weak Patamon laying in there asleep or unconcions, from the distance he couldn't tell. He was sitting against the back wall, almost against the wall to Kari's cell. Even in this kind of situation, TK knew there had to be a way out of it. The holder of the Crest of Hope couldn't think otherwise. Somehow he just had this feeling there was a way out of this he wasn't aware of.  
  
"TK, can you hear me?" A faint voice said. TK jumped, surprised by the voice. He looked around to see where it came from, but we was too far away from the front of the cell to hear anyone else. "TK, down here, in the corner." The voice said again. TK looked down at the corner and noticed a hole in the wall where something had worn away the wall. TK got onto his belly, putting his face down near the hole and saw Kari on the other side, also with her eyes up to the hole. TK was glad he could see her crimson eyes again, even if it wasn't in the best of places. "TK, give me your hand." Kari said, shifting around on the floor of the cell to get her hand in the hole. TK didn't know why she wanted him to do it, but he shifted onto his back to reach into the hole anyway. The wall was a few feet thick, but it was wide enough for them to both get their arms into the hole, meeting halfway between. Kari held onto TK's hand, getting a good hold on it.  
  
"Kari, what are you doing?" TK asked in a whisper tone. He didn't know if Kari could hear him or not, though. With their arms in the hole his whisper might not have gotten though.  
  
"I can't believe both of our angel Digimon couldn't beat one evil angel." Kari said outloud so TK could hear her. He also felt Kari giving his hand a quick squeeze for some reason. "Maybe if you used MagnaAngemon we would stand a better chance." Kari continued, giving his hand another squeeze. TK didn't know where she was getting with all the squeezing, though. "Maybe if my Digimon went to her Mega level of HolyAngewomon we could win easy." Kari said, this time squeezing twice. Now TK had no idea what she was talking about, they both knew Gatomon couldn't go Mega... or maybe that was it... TK was starting to get an idea but didn't want to be too hasty.  
  
"MagnaAngemon would have been enough..." TK said, giving Kari's hand a quick squeeze. He hoped he had the right idea.  
  
"Yeah..." Kari said back. "But you told me my Digimon's Mega was your favorite Digimon." TK felt two squeezes of the hand that time. He was sure of it now, one squeeze meant true and two meant false, since Kari knew TK's favorite was Patamon. Kari was trying to throw off the guard somehow with the bad information.  
  
"Yeah, but Joe's Mega is the one that beats everyone elses, that's the one to be afraid of." TK squeezed twice on that comment. The Triceramon guard seemed to be getting a good earfull, too. "I'm sorry I got you into this, I should have fought better..." TK said, squeezing once.  
  
"You should have, this is all your fault, TK." Kari said, quickly squeezing twice. This was a little different, though. That was false, but it also had some meaning behind it somehow.  
  
"I'm sorry..." TK said, giving Kari's hand a squeeze.  
  
"You were never my best friend, anyway..." Kari said, giving TK's hand two hard squeezes. TK was getting mixed up again, Kari always told him that he was always her best friend... That's when it hit TK. She was changing the game, two squeezes now meant that she meant the opposite of what she says. TK felt clever picking up this code so fast.  
  
"No problem, you were never my best friend, either." TK replied, giving her hand two squeezes. It was a half lie, though, he definatly felt more for Kari than just friendship, even best friendship. He never figured out what, though, not for sure at least.  
  
"Now that I think about it..." Kari said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "I think... I absolutely hate you, TK..." Kari gave TK's hand two hard squeezes, but just hearing those words hurt TK badly, like his world had crumbled out from underneath him. Then he realized his hand had recieved two squeezes, he was just confused. What could Kari mean by the opposite of hate... except for... love? TK wasn't sure what to say back, if Kari really did mean what he thought.. what he hoped...  
  
"I'm glad..." TK said, squeezing once. "I hate you too, Kari." He gave two more squeezes. "...more than anything." One last squeeze, he just hoped Kari could peice all that together. Kari stayed quiet for a few minutes, not saying anything in reply.  
  
"Just get to sleep, things will look better int he morning." Kari finally said, squeezing once. TK was getting tired, it had been a long day. He didn't want to let go of Kari's hand, though. Kari must not have, either, since she didn't pull her arm back out. TK left it at that and got as comfortable as he could with his arm still in the hole. Hee didn't really care, though, as long as Kari's hand was still in his.  
  
**********  
  
The next morning, TK awoke with a sore neck from sleeping on the hard rock floor and a stiff arm from keeping it in the hole all night. He didn't mind that, though, since Kari was still holding onto his hand in the next cell. He remembered last night well and never wanted to forget it, either. Who would think his first day as a prisoner would be one of the best days of his life?  
  
"Hey, TK!" Tai shouted from across the dungeon. TK, reluctantly, pulled his arm from the hole and walked over to the cell bars. TK looked to where the Triceramon guard was the night before, but found his chair empty.  
  
"What happened to the guard?" TK said, making sure Kari's plan worked.  
  
"He ran off saying something about Gomamon's Mega level." Tai said, a bit confused about that himself. "What happened last night, anyway? You and Kari kept talking nonsense..." TK laughed a little, glad Kari's idea fooled her own brother.  
  
"I'll explain it later." TK said. "Let's just say the guard's probably giving DarkAngemon some bad info right now." Tai didn't have much of an idea what TK meant, but he left it a that. Just then TK heard a small bang behind him, like something metal just hit the floor behind him.  
  
"TK, grab that quick!" Kari said from the bars of her cell. TK turned around and walked to the back of his cell where he found a Digivice, the object that hit the ground. TK looked over at the hole in the wall and figured it had to come from there.  
  
"Kari, how did you get a Digivice?!" TK said, walking back to the bars with the metalic device in his hands.  
  
"I grabbed it away from DarkAngemon when I tried to tackle him." Kari said. "Luckily he never noticed it gone. I told you things would look better in the morning." TK couldn't help but admire how clever Kari was sometimes. "TK, hit the button on it and see who's Digivice it is, we can get out of here if it goes to one of us." TK looked down at it and noticed the large button on one of the top corners. He pressed it in, lighting up the small screen and making a little pixel picture of Agumon appear on it.  
  
"Agumon popped up on the screen." TK announced. "It's gotta be yours, Tai." With the Digivice in hand, TK managed to get an arm passed the bars. Tai did the same, but it was too far apart to just hand it to him. TK decided to risk it and lobbed the Digivice at Tai's hand. It was on target, but Tai never was a good catch, fumbling it around a little before it fell to the ground, out of reach for both of them. Sora was awake, too, watching the whole scene. She looked over and saw Biyomon stirring awake, then got an idea.  
  
"Biyomon, are you awake?" Sora asked across the dungeon. Biyomon jumped to her feet to show she was, but she was obviously still a little drowsy. "Think you can knock Tai's Digivice over to him?" Biyomon shook her head, knocking some of the sleep out of her, and saw the Digivice lying face down on the floor.  
  
"Sure, no problem!" Biyomon said, gaining a little height. "Spiral Twister!" The green blast of fire and wind hit right beside the Digivice, knocking it into the air and right into Tai's cell, hitting the ground right behind him. Tai reached down and grabbed the Digivice, checking to see if it wasn't too banged up. It looked as fine as ever, though, they were definatly built to last. He gripped onto it tight, half out of worry that it would go away if he didn't.  
  
"Agumon, wake up!" Tai shouted at his sleepy Digimon in the cell between Patamon and Gatomon. Agumon woke slowly, but did feel slightly more energized than he expected. "Come on, sleepy head, we're getting out of here!" Agumon looked over at Tai as best he could and saw a gleam of light come from sonething in his hand. Agumon grinned, knowing what it was.  
  
"Agumon Digivolve to..." Agumon surged with an all too familiar energy. A flash of red and orange energy engulfed Agumon, replacing him with a large t-rex looking Digimon, complete with a horned helmet and blue stripes along his back. "Greymon!" The champion's size was easily enough to bust throught the cell bars. Luckily the hallway was made for Digimon his size, though. Greymon stomped over to the lever at the back of the dungeon and pushed it back, opening the cell doors. Anyone who wasn't already up was easily waken up by Greymon's escape. Everyone rushed out of their cells, glad to be free of them. Tai and Sora immediatly hugged each other, as did Gatomon and Patamon.  
  
"If you guys don't mind." Greymon boomed behind them "We've gotta get the others and get out of here fast!" Tai nodded, running for the door.  
  
"We've gotta get the Digivices back, too." Sora added, running down the hallway with Biyomon. TK, Kari, Gatomon and Patamon soon followed with Greymon following behind. Eventually they found themselves back in the dining hall, now empty of anything, even the leftovers on the table were gone.  
  
"Greymon, let's get the others out of the other dungeon!" Tai said, starting for the second dungeon's hallway. Sora and Biyomon followed quickly behind them. TK and Kari started to follow, then got a better idea and headed for the throne room.  
  
"Where are you two going?" Gatomon asked, stopping in her tracks. Patamon stopped beside her.  
  
"Tai and Sora can get the others out no problem." TK said, watching the two head into the dungeon hallway with their Digimon. "We'll go after the Digivices while they do that!" Kari has hit on the same idea, following TK into the throne room. Gatomon and Patamon both quickly followed behind them.  
  
**********  
  
Everyone in the second dungeon had waken up already, unable to sleep much on a rock floor, especially Mimi, who was still complaining about it to herself. Izzy was typing away at his computer, not really working on anything, just keeping his mind off of their situation. Matt was acting about the same way Tai was, trying his best to see Mimi from his cage and still think of a way to get out. Joe was just keeping to himself in the back of his cell, waiting for something to happen next, good or bad. Their Digimon were a different story. Gabumon and Tentomon were up most of the night, blasting a single bar of their cells, hoping it would break. Palmon was trying to extend her Poison Ivy vines to grab the lever and open the cells, but they took some care and put her in the cell farthest from the lever. Even when she got close the Triceramon on guard duty would swat her vines away easily Gomamon was watching the door, half expecting someone to bust through and come to the rescue.  
  
Suddenly Gomamon got his wish as the door was busted down by Greymon's Nova Blast, surprising the guard at the far end of the room. Tai came through the door, followed by Sora and Biyomon. The Triceramon didn't look happy, either, looking like it was going to explode if it didn't get to fight soon. Tai looked around and noticed this dungeon was much bigger, with more space above and around him. Lucky for him, too, as Greymon charged forward and got ready to Digivolve.  
  
"Greymon Digivolve to..." Greymon's left arm was replaced by a robotic arm with a vicious claw, which extended to give his chest a robotic part as well. His helmet became metal with a mass of hair now hanging out the back of it. His back grew a pair of short, broken wings. Parts from his legs and tail went away, revealing robotic parts underneath. "MetalGreymon!" The Ultimate Digimon had just enough space in the dungeon, thankfully, slashing at Triceramon with his robotic claw. Triceramon jumped back to avoid it.  
  
"Triple Missile!" Triceramon fired his three horns at MetalGreymon that exploded like missiles. Triceramon grinned at his apparent victory, only to see MetalGreymon still standing without a scratch on him.  
  
"Guess Triceramon's rumored strength is more myth than fact." Tentomon said, mentally making a note to keep that weakness in mind.  
  
"I think you need to know what a real missile is!" MetalGreymon threatened. Triceramon started running for the back of the room, the only place he could go. "Giga Blaster!" The robotic chest piece opened up, revealing two missile launchers that fired a pair of long missiles at Triceramon, blowing him up and taking most of the back wall with him. The explosion also knocked the cell doors open, freeing the rest of the group.  
  
"Thanks, Tai!" Matt said, looking over at his friend's handywork. "Now how about we get our Digivices and get out of here?" Tai nodded, his confidence restored. He turned and looked up at MetalGreymon just in time to see a black blast hit him from behind, damaging him so bad he had to return to his Rookie form of Agumon. Tai looked back and saw the blast's origin, DarkAngemon.  
  
"Impressive, I didn't think you'd be able to escape." The black angel was looking over the group. "You don't even have your Digivices, you can't win. I should have destroyed you all when I had the chance." DarkAngemon raised a glowing fist, ready to blast the entire group with black energy.  
  
"Celestrial Arrow!" An arrow of light came from the door behind DarkAngemon, but the blast seemed to only stun him for a second. He spun around to see Angewomon and Angemon in the hallway outside of the dungeon, with TK and Kari entering the door. The first thing everyone noticed was Kari carrying the small chest DarkAngemon put their Digivices in.  
  
"You two again..." DarkAngemon said, glaring at the angels. "I would have thought you learned your lesson last time." Angemon walked forward, returning the glare.  
  
"This time we don't hold anything back. The angel you face next won't be so easily." Angemon looked down at TK, who's Crest of Hope was glowing brightly from his chest.  
  
"Show him a real ultimate angel!" TK said, holding his Digivice up and letting its light spill out, illuminating the dungeon.  
  
"Angemon Digivolve to..." Angemon's 6 wings made room for 2 more, as well as the armor which appeared around him. Across his upper left arm a long shield came down and on his right arm, a lazer sword appeared on his wrist, forming a fairly long blade. Angemon's face was exposed for a split second as his helmet became longer, looking more like a bishop's hat. "MagnaAngemon!" The ultimate angel aimed his energy sword at DarkAngemon in challenge, which seemed to surprise the black angel.  
  
"I wasn't aware you were able to Digivolve..." DarkAngemon admited. "But it makes little difference, ultimate level angel or not, you are no match for me!" DarkAngemon drew his sickle and aimed the blade at MagnaAngemon. "Falling Heavens!" The sickle fired a storm of black energy bolts, too many to avoid. MagnaAngemon was ready and raised his sword into the air.  
  
"Gate of Destiny." MagnaAngemon swung his sword in a circle, leaving an energy trail that formed a golden gate in front of him. The gate opened up and absorbed the Falling Heavens from DarkAngemon's sickle. Angered, DarkAngemon stopped his attack, drawing back his sickle. MagnaAngemon wasn't finished, sending the Gate at the dark angel. When DarkAngemon was starting to enter it, the gates closed down on him, forcing him to struggle to keep the gate from closing on him.  
  
"The Gate won't hold him long." MagnaAngemon announced in his usual calm, harmonic voice. "We must escape while he is trapped." MagnaAngemon flew at the already blasted wall and swung his sword at the damaged wall, shattering it down and revealing the outside of the castle. Tai ran for the new opening, but took a look down from the hole and saw there was no ground underneath.  
  
"We need a ride down, fast!" Tai said, looking back at everyone. Everyone was digging through the box Kari was holding, pulling out their Digivices. Once Sora had hers, Biyomon ran for the hole and leaped out, taking to the air.  
  
"Biyomon Digivolve to..." The familiar energy rushed through the small bird, sending small flames all around her. The flames flashed a blinding red light, replacing Biyomon with a firebird, complete with a set of fangs. "Birdramon!" Birdramon flapped in place for a second, waiting for everyone to get on. Everyone soon did, excpet for Kari and TK who were carried by their angels. The three Digimon flew off, leaving DarkAngemon's palace behind as they flew to the bottom of the mountain. The trip down turned out to be shorter than a trip up, since they landed fast. Once everyone was off, Birdramon, Angewomon and MagnaAngemon returned to their usual forms.  
  
"Guess we know what that new evil is..." Matt said, holding Mimi's hand tight. The rest just nodded, looking back at Infinity Mountain.  
  
"We'd still be stuck in that dungeon, too..." Tai said, looking at his Digivice. "If it wasn't for Kari..." Matt looked at Tai.  
  
"Hey, don't forget it was TK and his Digimon that stopped DarkAngemon so we could get away." Matt was back to trying to rival Tai as best he could. The two were about to get into it some more when they both noticed something.  
  
"Wait, where's TK and Kari?" Tai said, looking around. Before he could freak out over their disappearance, he saw the two, just a few yards away, facing each other. Everyone started looking at the two, not sure what to do or to expect.  
  
"Well TK..." Kari said, a slight smile on her face. "You know how much I hate you..." TK had the same smile on his face, slightly more mischevous though.  
  
"Yeah... Just as much as I hate you." Nobody from the main group could believe what they were hearing, it didn't sound like TK and Kari. Then what came next nearly killed them. Kari put her arms around TK's neck, with TK putting his arms around her waist. The two looked at each other quickly before pressing their lips together. The kiss had as much passion and love as two 12 year olds could manage for their first kiss. Patamon and Gatomon were looking on, glad thier human partners knew what they had. Sora and Mimi thought it was kind of cute, until they looked at their own boyfriends, who were flat on the ground from fainting at the sight.  
  
"Well..." Joe said, dazed. "If this is how they show their hate, I don't want to know how they show their love..." Everyone that heard the comment couldn't help but laugh a little.  
  
"Just think." Mimi said to Sora. "If TK and Kari keep this up for long, these two might be brothers!" Sora looked down at the two, still unconcious, then cracked up. TK and Kari, still embraced, looked back at everyone else.  
  
"You'd think they never saw people kiss before..." TK said, looking back at Kari.  
  
"Yeah, they could at least be more mature about it..." Kari joked, putting her head on TK's shoulder. TK closed his eyes, glad he finally knew what made Patamon so happy.  
  
**********  
  
Back at the black palace, DarkAngemon was walking through his throne room, looking over the damage done by the Digidestined. The misinformed Triceramon was following him around, helping with what he could.  
  
"Master DarkAngemon..." Triceramon said, a little scared. "The Digidestined escaped, one of the dungeons have been destroyed and we're out one Triceramon, somehow I thought you would be furious..." DarkAngemon stopped and looked back at Triceramon, then only laughed evily.  
  
"Why should I be mad?" The dark angel replied. "You see, my minion, this is my game. I make the rules and I decide when it's over. The Digidestined's escape was planned by me. When the youngest girl tackled me, I allowed her brother's Digivice to fall into her hand. I even arranged for the hole in the wall between their cells. For what I have planned, a dungeon and a Triceramon are small prices to pay..." DarkAngemon took his seat on his throne, smiling wickedly. "Now... my real game begins..."  
  
To Be Concluded...  
  
Next: Chapter 5 -- Power Unleashed  
  
Special Note: Just so nobody complains, and I don't get sued, the dungeon scene was borrowed from Piers Anthony's Centaur Aisle, one of his early Xanth novels. Just to clear things up, an idea isn't something you can put a copywrite on, even from a book, as long as it isn't exactly word by word and then you do have to give credit like I am here. The dungeon hand holding scene from the book has the same code that was used for that same reason, but the similarities end there. The book has more talk of marriage, eventually went to a little hand biting instead of squeezing and the scene lasted a few pages rather than a few paragraphs. I've read the same kind of scene in other books and stories myself, but just in case, I admit I did get the idea from Centaur Aisle. I tried my best to not make it match, though, I thought it was perfect for this story.  
  
Want to see DarkAngemon? Take a look:  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/CyberDracomon/images/DarkAngemon.gif  



	5. Chapter 5: Power Unleashed

The Greatest Power  
Chapter 5 -- Power Unleashed  
  
(Author's Note: This is a TK/Kari fic, but expect Tai/Sora and Matt/Mimi in there as well. It's definatly a romance fic, but it'll have plenty of action in there, too. This fanfic is set 4 years after the defeat of Apocalymon and writen before the second Digimon series or movie came to America, so no characters or plots from that series or movie are in this story. Also, so nobody has to fight to think of how they changed in looks, just imagine the TV characters taller and more mature looking, I wont make reference to their clothes so you can imagine them however you want, I thought that would make it easier on you. Please read Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 so you'll know everything that's going on in this story. This is the final part of this story and will have plenty of both TK/Kari and action.)  
  
At the base of Infinity Mountain, the Digidestined were still recovering from their first experience with DarkAngemon. Tai, Sora and Biyomon was watching over Agumon, who was napping after taking a heavy hit from DarkAngemon. Izzy was e-mailing Gennai for any help while Tentomon watched over his shoulder. Mimi, Matt and Joe were with Gabumon, Palmon and Gomamon, trying to plan a way of beating DarkAngemon. Everyone was basically in the same group, except for TK, Kari and their Digimon. The four had gone away from the group to sort things out, nobody blaming them for wanting to.  
  
TK and Kari were sitting against a tree together, looking up at the Digiworld's moon that they never really noticed before. Patamon and Gatomon were on a branch just above them, leaning against each other and also watching the moon above them.  
  
"Hey TK..." Kari said, taking hold of TK's hand. "Did you really mean what you said back in DarkAngemon's dungeon?" TK wasn't sure what she meant, he had said a lot, some of which he didn't even expect.  
  
"Well... What do you mean?" TK asked, playing things safe.  
  
"When we were using the hand codes..." Kari said, hesitating a little. "Did you mean it when you said you... loved me more than anything?" TK was a bit taken back. At the second he said it, he had thought it was to fool the guard, but after he said it he had meant it... TK wasn't sure how to answer.  
  
"Of course I did." TK said, not sure of it himself. "You know me, I never lie." At least that part he knew was true. Kari looked him in the eyes and smiled. TK almost melted, seeing her crimson brown eyes looking into his. Kari moved over to sit in front of TK, then leaned back, resting her head against his chest. TK put his arms around her from behind, still in thought. He had never been in love, especially loving someone more than anything. It all made him wonder if he really did love her that much...  
  
"I'm glad they fell in love like us." Gatomon said to Patamon, both watching the two from a branch above them that was just high enough so they couldn't be heard. "They remind me of us when we first started doing this." Patamon smiled and nodded, remembering their earlier days.  
  
"Yeah..." Patamon answered back. "I remember being so confused, I had no idea what I was feeling for you." Patamon put his wings around Gatomon from behind, mainly since his arms were too short. "I'm glad I found out, though!" Gatomon giggled, leaning back on Patamon a little.  
  
"So am I..." Gatomon said. She suddenly yawned, dropping her eyelids a bit. "After today I think a long catnap is in order..." Patamon was tired to, leaning back against the tree. Even if it was short, fighting DarkAngemon one on one tired him out easily.  
  
"Good idea..." Patamon said, rubbing his eyes a little. Gatomon leaned all the way back, very comfortable. Patamon didn't seem to mind, leaning all the way back on the tree to get comfortable. Back at the base of the tree, Kari and TK were laying the same way, just not asleep yet, though both were worn out. TK was still sorting things out.  
  
"Hey TK..." Kari said, half yawning. "You don't mind if I go to sleep, do you?" Kari always did worry about someone else before herself.  
  
"Of course not." TK replied. "I could use the sleep myself..." TK was about to get up when Kari leaned all the way back on him, pushing him against the tree a little.  
  
"Just promise you'll be here in the morning..." Kari said, putting her hands on top of TK's. TK found he didn't want to get up anymore, even if he could at this point.  
  
"Always..." TK said, again using a word he wasn't totally sure about... Of course he loved Kari, he knew that now, but he never knew love before this, he wasn't sure if love was suppose to be this strong of if it got stronger... The whole experience was just too much for TK to take in all at once. He was hoping things would be less confusing in the morning, closing his eyes and putting his head against the tree. It didn't take long to get to sleep, even on the ground with his head against a tree he was somehow comfortable.  
  
A few hours later everyone was fast asleep and their camp fire was little more than a slow stream of smoke from a pile of gray ash. TK and Kari were still fast asleep against the tree, though TK's arms had lost their grip from around Kari and were dangling at his sides now. The same happened to Patamon's wings that had fallen from around Gatomon. A sudden cold breeze came from nowhere, flapping Patamon's wings around a little. A strange spirit emerged from the darkness, sweeping over the two couples. When it passed, Kari and Gatomon were gone and the spirit was drifting towards the top of Infinity Mountain.  
  
**********  
  
Kari awoke with a stiff neck for some reason, as well as blurred vision when she opened her eyes. From what she could see she wasn't where she was when she fell asleep. It felt like she was sitting on stone and there was the smell of burning torches in the air. She blinked a few times, clearing her eyes, and saw Gatomon beside her, in the same state of confusion. They both looked up and saw DarkAngemon, along with what looked like a dark black tattered cloak floating beside him with vicious red eyes, the only thing visible in the hood of the cloak. They were in a small room with little around them but a table with a large book and a glass orb sitting on it.  
  
"Good work, Enigmamon." DarkAngemon said, addressing the floating Digimon beside him. Enigmamon nodded and floated back towards the only door of the room. His red glare never left Kari as he moved.  
  
"What do you want with us?" Kari said, her brother's defiant look in her eyes. DarkAngemon only grinned, somehow amused.  
  
"I mearly want to show you the truth, that's all." He said. "I mean you no harm." Kari didn't believe it for a second, but she did notice he wasn't carrying his sickle with him.  
  
"This after you imprisoned us then tried to destroy us?" Gatomon said, bearing her claws. "Besides, even if we wanted to hear, what makes you think we'd trust your version of truth?" Kari tried grabbing for her Digivice, only to see it was gone. She looked over and saw it in DarkAngemon's grip.  
  
"Because once you hear it, you'll know I'm right." DarkAngemon said, confident. Kari and Gatomon didn't know what to expect. "And if you don't hear it you'll never leave this room." DarkAngemon looked back at Enigmamon. "Let Psychemon in." He said to Enigmamon, who then opened the door to the room, letting a new Digimon walk in. He was humanoid in appearance, but every bit of him was pitch black, with no eyes or mouth. A dark blue cape was handing from his neck and somehow flapping around a little, even with no wind.  
  
"You sent for me?" Psychemon said, no emotion in his cold voice. DarkAngemon only nodded.  
  
"So why did you bring us here?" Kari said, becoming worried. She felt like running for the door, but Enigmamon was still glaring at her.  
  
"I told you, I want you to know the truth for your own good." DarkAngemon again said. Psychemon walked to the other side of the table and grabbed the glass orb sitting on it, though Kari and Gatomon didn't notice.  
  
"Why would you help us?" Gatomon said, angry.  
  
"Because I think it's a shame the ones you love so much lied to you." DarkAngemon said. "They don't love you, they never did." Hearing this, Kari and Gatomon both became angry at DarkAngemon, hating him for saying such a thing. DarkAngemon nodded at Psychemon, who then put his other hand over the orb, causing a gold energy inside the orb to start glowing. Suddenly something in the back of Kari and Gatomon's heads said he might be right, but the two hardly paid attention at first.  
  
"That's a lie, it has to be!" Kari said. She knew it was a lie, she knew TK loved her, but she couldn't shake the feeling he was right somehow. Gatomon was thinging the same about Patamon, as well.  
  
"Me and Patamon have been in love 2 years, he couldn't have faked that!" Gatomon was trying to convince the bit of her thoughts that thought he might be right.  
  
"But it is true, you know that." DarkAngemon said with confidence. "You're trying your best to deny it. Patamon never loved you, he felt sorry for you, the past two years have been nothing but pity for you." Gatomon felt like clawing his wings off right there, but she still had that voice in the back of her head saying he was honest. Psychemon's orb started glowing a bit brighter as the voice in Kari and Gatomon's heads got louder.  
  
"TK wouldn't lie to me." Kari said, trying to convince herself. "We've been best friends for a long time, he'd never do that to me!" DarkAngemon's grin returned.  
  
"You'd like the believe that, but you know I'm right." DarkAngemon said as Psychemon's orb again started glowing brighter. "The truth is, TK knew you grabbed the Digivice from me in the throne room, he knew you'd give it to him if he said those things and he knew you'd find his Digivice for him because he knew you loved him. He just used that love to escape from my cell." Kari couldn't believe he was saying this, but she also couldn't believe she thought he was right, something in her just told her he was. That something was Psychemon's powers, which again increased. Kari closed her eyes and wanted to cry from knowing TK did that to her, but she held them back, feeling more angry and hateful instead of sad. She opened her eyes again, but their crimson brown was replaced by the same gold color coming from Psychemon's orb. Gatomon's eyes were now also this color, the bright blue gone from them.  
  
"So what if you are right?" Gatomon said with an emotionless voice. "What are we suppose to do about it?" DarkAngemon's grin seemed to become more satisfied as he heard this.  
  
"Simple. Get even with them, take revenge." DarkAngemon said. "My men and I can take care of your friends while you two take revenge on Patamon and TK, simple as that." Kari and Gatomon had an almost evil gleam in their now gold eyes. "Get some sleep, you'll need it." With that, Psychemon set the now totally gold orb on its stand on the table before walking out. DarkAngemon and Enigmamon left the room and shut the large wooden door behind them, leaving Kari and Gatomon to rest.  
  
"Master DarkAngemon, I do not see how this young girl and one Digimon will let us destroy your enemies." DarkAngemon looked over at the floating Digimon.  
  
"It's all about tearing down thier relations..." DarkAngemon said. "TK and Tai won't dare to attack Kari and Matt wouldn't attack for TK's sake. With the three most powerful Digidestined out of the way, the others will fall easily." Enigmamon was understanding now and seemed eager to begin. "As I explained to Triceramon, this is my game and my rules, and the Digidestined will lose this game..." The two walked off to plan for their upcoming attack.  
  
**********  
  
Back at the base of the mountain, most of the Digidestined and their Digimon were awake. Only TK, Kari, Patamon and Gatomon were missing from the group, but they guessed they were still asleep. The humans of the group were trying to decide how to stop DarkAngemon and guessed on what that greatest power was supposed to be while their Digimon listened in for whatever the final plan was going to be.  
  
"I still think we've got the greatest power." Tai said, looking around at the group. "We just don't know what exactly it is." Matt resisted the urge to start a shouting match with Tai.  
  
"Tai, we threw everything we had at him and he didn't even get scratched!" Matt said. "Whatever power that prophecy's talking about, we don't have it." Tai wanted to yell back so bad, but knew it wouldn't help much.  
  
"Well does anyone else have an idea what it means?" Tai asked anyone still paying attention, which didn't include Mimi who was still asleep against Matt.  
  
"Well maybe the greatest power really is something we know." Joe said, trying to come up with something. "Like how an entire country can get electricity?" All he got were a few blank stares.  
  
"Sorry, Joe." Izzy said from behind his laptop. "Nuclear power plants are something the Digital World isn't exactly familiar with. I think he's on to something, though, it very well could be something we know, we just haven't realized it yet." Izzy was looking up various things on his computer about the Digiworld, mainly about powerful objects and Digimon. "Maybe the ones that created the Digivices and crests could know something about it?" Tai was thinking about Izzy's idea when TK and Patamon came running out of nowhere, both looking very panicked.  
  
"Kari's gone!" TK shouted loud enough to hear on Server. Tai jumped up at the announcment, just as panicked.  
  
"TK, what happened?!" Tai shoutted. TK was catching his breath from the run and the yell, plus he didn't know what to tell Tai.  
  
"Me and Kari went to sleep last night and when I woke up she wasn't there anymore! I think someone took her before she woke up!" Tai could tell TK was on the verge of crying his eyes out, he knew he'd do the same if someone kidnapped Sora.  
  
"It's the same for Gatomon!" Patamon said, doing his best to stay airborn. "When I woke up someone had taken her!" It didn't take Tai long to figure things out.  
  
"It had to be DarkAngemon!" Tai said, looking up at Infinity Mountain. "We know where he's got her, so let's go after her!" Most nodded, agreeing.  
  
"Tai, wait a second!" Sora said. "We still don't have what it takes to beat DarkAngemon, we wouldn't stand a chance!" Tai was still glaring at the top of the mountain.  
  
"I don't care..." Tai said coldly. "He's got Kari and I'm getting her back!" Tai started walking towards the mountain with Agumon close behind. The rest began to follow, their Digimon in tow.  
  
"No need, Tai..." Someone behind the group said. Everyone turned around to see Kari standing a few yards behind them, almost glaring at the group. TK was happy to see her, but immediatly noticed his favorite set of eyes were now gold in color.  
  
"Kari!" Tai said, glad to see her, but the changed eyes also worried him a lot. "What happened to you?" Tai started to walk towards Kari, but as soon as he got within a few feet a beam of light struck at the ground right at his toes, stopping him He looked up to see Angewomon with another arrow ready to fly. He couldn't see her eyes from the helmet, but he guessed whatever happened to Kari happened to her, too.  
  
"Nothing's happened, I've just shown her the truth." A new voice said, but Tai and the others definatly knew who it was. DarkAngemon appeared from the sky, with Enigmamon and Psychemon following behind, landing beside Kari and Angewomon.  
  
"Your kind of truth she doesn't need!" Tai said, now glaring at the dark angel. He wanted to take him right there but he knew he didn't stand a chance.  
  
"But my truth is honest." DarkAngemon said, pulling out his sickle. "Unlike yours, mine hides nothing." Tai didn't have much of a clue what he was talking about, just that he was wrong or lying.  
  
"TK lied to me..." Kari said, her voice sounding emotionless. "He never loved me, he just used me... Hhie friend Patamon did the same to Gatomon..." Kari was glaring at TK like she wanted to kill him. TK was scared just seeing her glaring at him like that.  
  
"Kari, that's not true!" TK said. It was all he could say, nothing else seemed to matter at that moment.  
  
"It is true and you know it!" Kari yelled. TK was about to break into tears when Kari ran up and knocked TK to the ground. He looked up at her, too shocked to do otherwise. "You knew I loved you, you just used me to get out of that dungeon!" Kari was about to raise a fist to punch TK when TK managed to get away and onto his feet. Tai ran over to get Kari, but he was stopped by another blast, this time from Psychemon, who was again holding his glass orb. He aimed it at Tai, ready to fire again.  
  
"Agumon Warp-Digivolve to..." Agumon overloaded with energy, forcing him through his Champion and Ultimate stages and into his Mega form. His legs gained shin armor and his arms gained long pieces of armor with claws at the ends. Across his back a shield appeared with the crest of Courage designing it. It split down the middle, forming short wings as he opened his eyes from inside his helmet. "WarGreymon!" Fully Digivolved, WarGreymon jumped at Psychemon, slashing him away from Tai. Psychemon jumped away before he could follow up with a real attack.  
  
"Crystal Bomb!" Psychemon hurled his glass orb at WarGreymon. It exploded as it hit, throwing WarGreymon back some. When he recovered and looked back up, Psychemon had another orb in his hand somehow.  
  
"These are my best minions, Psychemon and Enigmamon." DarkAngemon announced. "You don't stand a chance at beating all three of us." DarkAngemon flew higher, staying away from the upcoming battle. He watched as Angewomon aimed an arrow at Patamon and fired, barely missing him. Patamon didn't want to fight, but he had to at least defend himself.  
  
"Patamon Digivolve to..." As the pure power entered Patamon, a cloud of white feathers flew all around him. It covered a bright flash of while light that transformed Patamon into his Champion form. "Angemon!" Angemon knew he should try for MagnaAngemon, but with a beam sword and the power of a Mega it would be too easy to accidentally hurt Angewomon. "Angewomon, I don't want to fight you!" He said just before dodging another arrow.  
  
"Too bad, cause I'm fighting you!" Angewomon let another light arrow fly at Angemon, which he again flew around. Meanwhile, everyone else was ready to fight, all Digivolving at the same time.  
  
"Biyomon Digivolve to..." Biyomon surged with the same red energy that filled her many times before. The energy flashed brightly, replacing Biyomon with the fanged firebird. "Birdramon!" Birdramon immediatly absorbed more energy, this time to go Ultimate. "Birdramon Digivolve to..." Birdramon erupted into a wall of flames. Part by part, she emerged from the fire, now with a humanoid look and indian-like designs. "Garudamon!"  
  
"Tentomon Digivolve to..." Tentomon liked taking his time Digivolving, letting the energy slowly enter him. Once it did, a bright flash of light replaced him with a large blue bug with 4 arms. "Kabuterimon!" Kabuterimon wasn't done there, taking in more energy. "Kabuterimon Digivolve to..." Kabuterimon wasn't as pacient, letting electrical energy flow over his body, putting brown armor on every part it passed over, ending with the horn on his helmet. "MegaKabuterimon!"  
  
"Palmon Digivolve to..." Palmon quickly filled with energy, trying to Digivolve fast. A green flash of light and she became a massive cactus with hollow eyes and mouth. "Togemon!" She wasn't done there, though. "Togemon Digivolve to..." The flower on Togemon's head flew off and grew a large pink rose bud. The bud opened, releavling an almost human Digimon with a pink rose on her head and vines for hair. She even had a set of four leaves for wings. "Lillymon!"  
  
"Gomamon Digivolve to..." Gomamon was eager to Digivolve since he wasn't able to int he last fight. A quick flash and he became a large, very furry Digimon with white hair and large tusks and horn. "Ikakkumon!" Ikkakumon didn't stop there, taking in as much power as he could. "Ikkakumon Digivolve to..." Ikkakumon was swallowed by a cyclone of water out of nowhere. When he emerged, he was standing upright and was mostly grey and orange, with a spiked shell on his back. He raised a fist and a lightning bolt struck it, giving him his massive hammer. "Zudomon!"  
  
"Gabumon Warp-Digivolve to..." Gabumon Digivolved much faster, going from Garurumon to WereGarurumon all the way to Mega level. Now an armored wolf, he extended wings with blades of energy, then extended his blade tail. He landed, then opened all of his weapons, revealing many missiles all armed and ready to fire. He set them back and gave one last howl. "MetalGarurumon!"  
  
"Not bad..." Enigmamon said, looking over the new Digimon. "but also not enough. Unknown Blaster!" Enigmamon raised his arms as blasts that seemed to come out of nowhere blasted at everyone, then bounced off of the ground, making most fire at other Digimon.  
  
"MetalGarurumon, go help WarGreymon!" Lillymon said, looking down at the metalic wolf. "We can take of this one!" MetalGarurumon nodded, then flew off after Psychemon. Meanwhile, Angemon was still trying to avoid blows from Angewomon as TK was trying his best to avoid Kari, still glaring at him with her now gold eyes.  
  
"Kari, I don't know what that phoney angel said, but it's not true!" TK was still trying to believe what was happening. Kari didn't care what he said, swinging another fist at him. TK was slowing down and barely missed, getting his shoulder clipped. It still stung badly, TK knew Kari had her brother's punch. "Please, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, I love you!" Kari stopped when he said this and it looked like her eyes were about to lose their gold, but it held easily, whatever spell she was under was strong.  
  
"You could at least admit you used me instead of trying to lie your way out!" Kari said, getting ready to punch at TK again. He refused to believe this was happening as he dodged more blows, again getting more tired with every dodge. All the questions TK had been wondering about seemed to vanish from his mind. He finally decided if even if he could love stronger than this, he didn't want to love anyone else.  
  
**********  
  
The Megas, meanwhile, were battling with Psychemon in the air. They were doing their best hand to hand but Psychemon seemed to be able to top their moves easy. Whatever psychic power he had, it was stopping them from landing a blow.  
  
"Mind Bender!" Psychemon fired a wave of energy at MetalGarurumon, knocking him from the air. WarGreymon flew down and grabbed him before he hit the ground, then flew back up with MetalGarurumon flying behind him, still groggy from the attack. "You two can't hope to beat me. You can't sneak up on me or plan an attack, I'll see what you're doing before you do it no matter what!" With that he fired another Crystal Bomb. The two Megas barely avoided it, letting it explode behind them.  
  
"Giga Missile!" MetalGarurumon backflipped, firing a large missile from his stomache in mid flip. Psychemon already knew he was going to fire it, though, and dodged easily. Battling a psychic was too hard, it was impossible to surprise him with the attack. The Megas dodged again as Psychemon fired more crystals at them.  
  
**********  
  
The Ultimated were having the hardest time. Enigmamon moved too fast for them to follow with their attacks. Lillymon was the only one small enough to keep up and even she had trouble, trying to use her Flower Cannon in mid flight. The ghost-like Digimon flew up out of their reach, prepairing for his attack.  
  
"Dark Duplication!" A black flash of light hit all four Ultimate Digimon, but when it cleared up, each of them were facing what looked like a clone of themselves, only their colors were a lot darker. "Meet my shadow clones." Enigmamon said. "They know everything you're going to do before you do it, it's impossible to beat them." With that, the clones lunged at their originals, forcing them back.  
  
"No carbon copy's beating me!" MegaKabuterimon shouted. "Horn Buster!" He fired a bolt of energy from his horn, only to have it bounced off the crystal on the back of his clone's shell. The clone then tried stabbing MegaKabuterimon with his own Horn Buster, which barely missed.  
  
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon swung his war hammer at his clone, but the clone swung his own, clashing them together and shaking both of them badly. Zudomon recovered and slammed his hammer to the ground, firing an energy arrow at his clone. The clone swung his hammer, deflecting the blast.  
  
"It's no use, it's like fighting a mirror!" Lillymon said. She was in the air, trying to outmaneuver her shadow clone, waiting before firing a Flower Cannon. Garudamon was having similar trouble, fighting her clonw in mid air hand to hand, her Wing Blade was too slow to connect to her clone.  
  
**********  
  
Higher in the sky, Psychemon was still holding up very well against MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon. He was still one or two steps ahead of them, thanks to his psychic powers. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were running out of ideas fast. Without warning, MetalGarurumon started circling around Psychemon, picking up speed until he was one large grey blur flying around Psychemon. Psychemon only watched for a second before flying upwards. WarGreymon caught on and started flying around him, too, but this time from top to bottom like a wheel, trapping him between them.  
  
"Stop spinning!" Psychemon demanded, trying to keep up with them. He threw a Crystal Bomb at WarGreymon, but he was spinning so fast it was knocked away without exploding. Psychemon was tired of this and was about to fire Mind Bender when he became too disoriented to build up the attack. That was MetalGarurumon's cue, breaking from his spinning. WarGreymon did as well, stopping above Psychemon.  
  
"Ice Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon's missile compartments opened, arming at least a dozen missiles. He fired them all off, blasting Psychemon with the freeze bombs and trapping him in a large block of ice. "Care to finish him off?" MetalGarurumon offered. WarGreymon nodded, putting his claws together above his head. He started spinning like a tornado, becoming an orange blur.  
  
"Terra Force!" WarGreymon flew at the frozen Psychemon. He drilled into the ice and after a few seconds of drilling, the ice shattered, taking Psychemon with it. WarGreymon stopped spinning and watched the ice fade away as it fell to the ground. "One down, two to go!" WarGreymon said, looking down. "Lets go after DarnAngemon while the others are still battling!" MetalGarurumon nodded as both flew off in the direction DarkAngemon flew, straight up.  
  
**********  
  
Angemon was still havinig a hard time against Angewomon. He didn't want to hurt her but if he didn't fight back he was going to get finished off. Angewomon fired a few more arrows at Angemon, clipping some feathers from his wings. Angemon flew away fast, but Angewomon was faster, with 8 wings she could fly and maneuver better than he could.  
  
"Angewomon... I'm sorry I have to do this..." Angemon said, a lot of regret in his voice. "Angemon Digivolve to..." Angemon didn't want to Digivolve, he would be too powerful to just defend himself, but he didn't have a choice. He grew a second set of wings as his gold shoulder armor became a purple shield that extended past his elbow. He gained some armor and new armored boots. A device with a handle appeared on his wrist, forming his beam sword when he gripped the handle. His helmet vanished and was replaced by a much taller purple one. "MagnaAngemon!" Angewomon stopped in midair when MagnaAngemon appeared.  
  
"Looks like someone has some fight in him after all!" Angewomon said, firing another arrow. MagnaAngemon swung his beam sword down, slashing the light arrow into two. Angewomon watched in disbelief as the arrow halves fell to the ground far below.  
  
"I can't risk you harming our friends, but I won't fight you, either." MagnaAngemon's voice was still its usual harmonic tone, but it didn't sound cold, he has some real emotion in it now.  
  
"That's your mistake!" Angewomon threatened, lunging at MagnaAngemon. He seemed ready for this, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"Magna Antidote!" MagnaAngemon's top four wings flashed a rainbow of colors and fired a beam of holy light at Angewomon, stopping her in midair. She put her arms in front of her eyes, trying to block it out, but it was too much. Angewomon slumped down a little before falling backwards, falling to the ground. MagnaAngemon stopped the beam and darted down after her, catching her just bfore she hit the ground. He set her on the ground, being careful of her wings, then lifted off her helmet, checking if she was alright. Without the helmet she looked almost human. She opened her eyes, which were similar to Gatomon's, the same deep blue color and just as bright.  
  
"...MagnaAngemon...?" She choked out. MagnaAngemon reached up and pulled his helmet off, revealing his eyes. He had an almost regal appearance to him.  
  
"Rest, you've been through a lot today..." MagnaAngemon looked into her eyes before she closed them, exausted. She wasn't too weak since she didn't Dedigivolve. MagnaAngemon replaced both of their helmets and remained there, kneeling over her.  
  
**********  
  
"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon was getting desperate, her clone was matching her move for move. The same was going for Garudamon, Zudomon and MegaKabuterimon, who were getting tired just by fighting like this. Lillymon's clone dodged the blast anf fired one of her own, which Lillymon didn't dodge as well, getting one of her leaf wings scorched. "How are we suppose to beat ourselves?!" Lillymon asked anyone listening. Suddenly, Garudamon knew, flying over to Lillymon.  
  
"Simple, we don't fight outselves!" Garudamon said, flying past Lillymon and at the Lillymon clone. "Wing Blade!" Garudamon's wings fired a massive flame that blasted Lillymon's shadow clone hard. When the fire faded, the clone was gone. Lillymon got the idea, flying at the Zudomon clone.  
  
"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon fired off a few shots at the clone, turning him to dust that mostly flew away in the wind. "They're made to fight their originals!" Lillymon announced. "They have no idea how to fight anyone else!" Zudomon liked the idea, looking at the shadow clone of MegaKabuterimon.  
  
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon swung his hammer hard and let it go, sending it flying at the clone. It knocked him back hard, making him disolve as soon as he hit the ground. Like a boomerang, the hammer turned and flew back, landing into Zudomon's waiting hand.  
  
"My turn!" MegaKabuterimon said, looking for the Garudamon clone. He didn't see it until he looked up, apparently trying to fly away. "I don't think so! Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon fired an electric bolt at the flying clone, blasting it to dust. With the clones finished, they regathered quickly.  
  
"How about we take care of the one that started this mess?" Zudomon said, looking up. High above them was Enigmamon, watching over another fight in the distance. Everyone traded mischevous looks before all firing their attacks straight at Enigmamon. The mysterious Digimon looked down and saw the attacks coming at him, but by then it was too late as he got hit hard, getting caught in the explosion of the attacks. Once the explosion faded away, he was gone, faded away with the explosion  
  
"Guess that wasn't as hard as we thought." Lillymon said, resting on Zudomon's shoulder. Lillymon looked around now that she had time to and noticed MagnaAngemon kneeling over Angewomon. She didn't look hurt, but she didn't look the same, either. She also noticed TK dodging blows from Kari and was tempted to fly over and break it up when she heard a loud sound from above her. She and the other Ultimates, including MagnaAngemon, looked up and saw WarGreymon fall from the sky and land on the ground hard, kicking up a lot of dirt and dust when he hit. MetalGarurumon followed soon after, crashing down ontop of him. DarkAngemon slowly descended next, holding his sickle in both hands and grinning.  
  
"As I've reminded my minions today..." DarkAngemon started. "this is my game! I make the rules and I decide when it ends!" DarkAngemon turned to TK and Kari, still at the same routine. "Once my newest minion destroys one of your own the rest of you will follow!" DarkAngemon grinned viciously at the idea.  
  
"You have to get through the rest of us first!" Tai yelled. He didn't know how to back up his threat, though, without WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon they didn't have much. Zudomon, MegaKabuterimon, Lillymon and Garudamon seemed more than eager to take to the fight.  
  
"Don't make empty threats, boy." DarkAngemon warned. "You and I both know that without your Megas and angels you cant even phase me!" The four Ultimates had enough and leaped at DarkAngemon, all ready to attack. The black angel was ready, flying up and away from them, but Lillymon and Garudamon took chase. Meanwhile, TK had become too exausted to dodge anymore and took a hit in the gut from Kari, knocking him on his back. Lucky for him Kari was also getting tired from missing so many punches, but the one that landed still hurt a lot. Kari stood over him, her gold eyes glarind down at him, then kneeled down, pinning him to the ground, and grabbed him by the collar with both fists.  
  
"Payback time, TK..." Kari said in an almost evil voice. "After today you won't be able to lie to me again..." Kari removed her right hand from TK's collar and raised it up, ready to lay one last punch.  
  
"Kari, please!" TK said, almost crying. "Don't do this, this isn't like you! You can't do this!" Kari hesitated, then grinned.  
  
"Alright then." Kari said, but she didn't let go or drop her fist. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't!" TK couldn't think right now, his mind was spinning from all this. He took a deep breath to try his best though.  
  
"Kari, I never lied to you, I meant everything I said..." TK started. "I really do love you more than anything and nothing can change that... not even this... and I meant it when I said I'd always be with you..." Kari's eyes seemed to flash and fade from gold to the familiar crimson brown, but the spell was too strong and her eyes eventually became solid gold again.  
  
"Nice try..." Kari said, clenching her fist tighter. "You should have tried harder!" With that Kari brought her fist down fast, but after so long, TK was ready and moved his head to the side, letting Kari punch the soft dirt under his head. Before she could pull up again, TK did the last thing he knew he could try. He quickly raised his head and put his lips to Kari's, trying his best to kiss her with passion. Kari's eyes darted open for a second, shocked from the sudden event, then shut her eyes halfway, not sure what to do. Her eyes started flashing again, from gold to crimson brown and back to gold. She closed her eyes all the way, returning the kiss. When the two broke, Kari opened her eyes, which were now solid crimson red, not even flashing back to gold now.  
  
"Well I tried harder..." TK said, kind of embarassed. Kari only giggled a little before putting her arms around TK, glad to be back to normal. TK put his arms around Kari, just as glad. If they hadn't closed their eyes, they would have seen their crests appear on their chests, which started glowing bright until TK and Kari vanished in the intense flash of purple and gold light. Everyone couldn't help but watch the sight, except for DarkAngemon who was hiding his eyes from the light. The light also seemed to revive Angewomon, who was now in the air with MagnaAngemon. Izzy suddenly got an idea and pulled out his laptop, frantically typing at it.  
  
"Whoa!" Izzy suddenly yelled, catching everyone's attention. "I analized Angewomon and MagnaAngemon and their energy levels are way off the scale! Tai, this is more energy than WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon have combined!" Tai looked over at DarkAngemon and noticed he was almost in pain from being exposed to the light.  
  
"Whatever they're doing, it's got to be the greatest power!" Tai said. The others looked at the situation and saw he was right, nothing else could be hurting DarkAngemon like this.  
  
"This can't be!" DarkAngemon screamed, backing away from the light until he could lower his arms. "How could those brats be so powerful?!" DarkAngemon turned to see MagnaAngemon with a white beam sword instead of a purple one and a rainbow flashing arrow in Angewomon's bow, ready to fly.  
  
"You made the same mistake your creator and Devimon made." Angewomon said, aiming her bow. "You underestimated them because they were the youngest, but you never saw they are also the strongest." Enraged, DarkAngemon drew his sickle and swung at Angewomon, only to have her rainbow arrow pierce through it, destroying it.  
  
"Blast!" DarkAngemon screamed. "This is my game! You can't win!" DarkAngemon flew at MagnaAngemon and fired his Hand of Destruction close up, but it had little effect as MagnaAngemon flew through it and slashed DarkAngemon hard with his beam sword, throwing him back through the air.  
  
"Game over!" MagnaAngemon yelled, raising his sword into the air. He circled it around like he was performing Gate of Destiny, but the white ring of energy stayed there, with MagnaAngemon still holding his sword where the ring connected. Angewomon flew up behind him and crossed her arms, then threw them to her sides, firing a white version of her Heaven's Charm at MagnaAngemon and the energy ring. Somehow the attacks fused, creating a silver Gate. MagnaAngemon stabbed through it with his sword, opening the gate.   
  
"Heaven's Light!" MagnaAngemon and Angewomon shouted at the same time. The gate glowed bright white and fired an incredibly massive beam of holy light, engulfing DarkAngemon. It looked like he was screaming as the attack hit, but the impact was so hard no scream was coming out. DarkAngemon slowly disolved away, bit by bit, until nothing was left and the gate closed, stopping the beam. Once it was over, all that was left was a single black feather that floated to the ground before it disolved away too. TK and Kari broke their embrace and the light died down till they were back to normal. Everyone looked glad as they Dedigivolved to their Rookie forms, or Champion form in Angewomon's case. Agumon and Gabumon were still down, now with Biyomon and Palmon over them, both looking worried.  
  
"So that's the greatest power?" Matt asked, still confused. "They hug and their Digimon get supercharged?" Izzy shook his head slightly.  
  
"Not quite, Matt." Izzy said. "Specifically, it's the love between hope and light, the two strongest crests combined in the strongest way." Matt just looked at Izzy for a minute.  
  
"So that's it, love?" Matt said, sounding a bit disappointed. "Doesn't that seem just a little, I don't know... sappy?" Mimi dropped her head, wondering if Matt would ever be anything of a romantic type.  
  
"Even if it was sappy, it did work." Sora said, holding Tai's hand. If anyone knew about love it was Sora. "Besides, it makes sense. Who better to recieve such power than the angel Digimon?" Everyone looked over for Patamon and Gatomon, who were near TK and Kari, both couples embracing each other, glad things were finally over. TK was looking into Kari's eyes the whole time.  
  
"Are you ever going to stop looking into my eyes?" Kari said jokingly.  
  
"I'm just glad my favorite eyes aren't gold anymore." TK said, smiling at her. Kari couldn't resist and kissed TK again, glad things were back to normal.  
  
**********  
  
That night everything was just the way it was before they even knew about the prophecy. Sora and Tai were holding hands and watching Agumon and Biyomon running after each other playfully. Joe was trying to follow Gomamon up a nearby river without falling into the water. Matt and Mimi were beside Gabumon and Palmon, who were admiring the full moon from the campsite. Izzy was, of course, typing at the computer with Tentomon watching over his shoulder. TK, Kari, Patamon and Gatomon were back at the same tree, with Patamon and Gatomon sitting in a branch and TK and Kari at the base. They were sitting just the way they were before, with Kari and Gatomon leaning against their guys and TK's arms and Patamon's wings around their girls.  
  
"Trying again?" Kari joked. TK laughed a little and nodded.  
  
"I promised I would always be here when you woke up, right?" TK said. Kari nodded quickly in responce. "Well last time you woke up it was in DarkAngemon's dungeon. This time I want to keep that promise." Kari scooted up a bit to rest her head on TK's shoulder. She quickly turned her head and kissed him, which he returned gladly.  
  
"So you really did mean it...?" Kari said when the kiss broke. TK gave a shy smile and nodded.  
  
"More than anything I meant it..." TK said, holding Kari a little tighter. "To be honest, at first I wasn't sure if I did, I didn't know if love was suppose to be this strong or if it got any stronger..." Kari couldn't believe TK was being this honest, but there was something sweet about it. "I made a decision, though... even if love gets stronger than this, I don't want to love anyone else..." Kari never knew TK could be such a romantic. Her eyes were closed, but she could feel a single tear of joy rolling down her cheek, which TK gently wiped away. It was hard to believe someone like TK loved her so much.  
  
"TK, promise me something..." Kari said, opening her eyes again. "Promise that we'll be together forever, no matter what..." TK smiled at the idea.  
  
"I promise..." TK said, this time completely sure of his words. "But just in case, can I make it longer if I want?" Kari couldn't help but laugh a little.  
  
"Sure..." Kari answered, closing her eyes and leaning back on TK. "I couldn't imagine being any happier than I am now..."  
  
"Neither can I..." TK answered, closing his eyes and leaning back on the tree. The two fell asleep there, under the light of the Digiworld's moon. Neither one had any doubts their lives couldn't get any better than they were now. For the first time in a while, everything was perfect.  
  
The End  
  
Special Note: Thanks to everyone who stuck with this fanfic from Chapter 1 to this chapter and enjoyed them. This is my first complete Digimon fanfic and I can promise it won't be my last. Thanks a lot to everyone who gave such good reviews and especially thanks to everyone that helped keep me writing this story. One special thank you to Lace123 that stayed up with me till all hours of the night helping keep my sanity during so many all nighters to get these chapters writen. She's an author on fanfiction.net, please check out her stories when you get the chance!  
  
So what's next for CyberDracomon? As you know, this was a Romance with Action/Adventure thrown in. My next fic will be the other way around, with a little romance in a major Action/Adventure fic. If you enjoyed this story, please read my next, with an even more powerful villain, a new Digidestined with 2 Digimon of his own, more action than you could expect and find out what the heck a CyberDracomon is! I hope to see you then! ^_^  
  
Want to see DarkAngemon? Take a look:  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/CyberDracomon/images/DarkAngemon.gif  



	6. Out Takes

The Greatest Power  
Outtakes  
  
(Author's Notes: I felt a need to be funny, so I decided to do this special 6th chapter to The Greatest Power just for that reason. I don't know why I do such things, but at least it's funny... At least I hope this is funny...)  
  
Chapter 1 -- Before the Return  
  
Scene 1  
  
"Hey, Tai, what's taking so long?!" Kari shouted, pounding on the bathroom door. Tai had been in there for at least an hour getting ready for a date with Sora that wouldn't start for another 2 hours. "You aren't the only one who needs to get ready, you know!" Kari added.  
  
"Hang on, Kari!" Tai shouted through the door. "I'm almost done, just gotta get my hair to stay put!" Kari knew that meant at least another half an hour, her brother's hair couldn't stay if you dropped a bomb on it. Kari decided to try and get ready as best she could in her room and started to walk down the hall to it. She was suppose to meet up with TK for one last trip to the local arcade before their big return to the Digiworld. The entire group had been away for almost two years now, ever since the oldest of them started entering high school hey haven't been able to go back. It used to be a monthly thing till the schoolwork got harder and everyone was in need of summer jobs.  
  
Kari was about to enter her room when Tai burst out of the bathroom, falling to the floor in the same condition he went in with.  
  
"Your..." Tai started. Before he could finish a bell went off, the scene lights lit up and the director, CyberDracomon, jumped off of his chair.  
  
"Cut!" He yelled. "Tai, that's the third time your cue has been off!" CyberDracomon said, getting frustrated. "This is the first scene on this story, you aren't exactly proving your acting skills." Tai stood up and brushed himself off.  
  
"Sorry, CDM." Tai said, using only his initials to save breath. CyberDracomon shook his head before returning to his chair.  
  
"At least you were closer to your cue than last time." Cyber said. "You nearly knocked out Kari the first two times." Tai smiled nervously, forgetting about that part. Kari laughed slightly from behind him.  
  
"I'm getting used to it." Kari added. "Besides, if Tai can't get it right, we can throw a wig and dress on TK to play a stunt double." Somewhere in the back was the sound of TK grumbling at Kari's idea, obviously not very big on the idea. CDM smiled at his young starlet, then glared back at Tai.  
  
"From the top, again..." He said, sitting back in his chair. "And this time, try not to kill your sister, ok?" Tai nodded, returning to the bathroom as Kari took her spot in front of the door.  
  
**********  
  
Scene 4  
  
*I have to protect Kari!* He thought to himself, grabbing some change from his pocket. He pulled it out and dropped four quarters into the egg shaped game beside him. The door on the side slid open, which was facing Kari and the high schooler. Without even thinking about it, TK moved to a spot that put the high schooler between the pod and himself, then rushed forward, knocking the guy into the pod game. The door immediatly shut, locking him in until the ride was over, then the egg started shaking and turning, tossing and pitching the guy around in the machine. TK was about to grab Kari to make their getaway when the pod machine started shaking on it's hinges and broke off of the main system, tumbleing back and bulldozing the wooden background to the ground, revealing the backstage area and props, before slamming into the stone wall of the studio.  
  
"Cut!!" CyberDracomon shouted. "What was that?? We were one second from getting the scene perfect! Who's the prop guy that built that thing??" Cyber looked to his side at his Digimon set crew, all of them silent. Eventually a Vademon wandered in from behind the group with his head hung low. "Last time I hire illegal alien Digimon to do work around here..." Cyber slumped in his chair, half embarassed of his crew.  
  
"Um, CDM?" TK asked. "What about the guy in the pod? He might be hurt." Cyber shook his head, then stood from his chair. He marched to the back of the sound stage to the white pod and pulled the door open. After a minute a dazed Bakemon floated out, still hurt from the impact.  
  
"Just a shapeshifting Bakemon stunt double." Cyber explained. "They work cheap and they supply their own makeup." Cyber was about to return to the chair when the Bakemon regained it's focus, floating around, confused. "Back to your spot, Casper, and try to look meaner this time..." The Bakemon quickly returned to it's place and morphed back into the bully character. Cyber walked back to his chair and pointed to a group of Gazimon. "Get the set cleaned up, we need this scene done before we can go to the next one." The three Gazimon nodded and ran off to reset and repair the background as TK, Kari, and the rest of the actors returned to their places.  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 2: Digital Discovery  
  
Scene 2  
  
"Then you all know the drill!" Izzy said, walking into the center of the circle. He grabbed his Digivice from his pocket and held it out with it facing towards the sky.  
"I've still got a bad feeling about this..." Joe said, joining Izzy in the center, holding out his Digivice. One by one, the rest walked up and held their Digivices out with all of them pointed up at the sky.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Joe." Tai said, trying to bring some confidence to his friend. "There's nothing to worry about, we've done this plenty of times." Tai was right, this used to be a weekly visit till high school hit them.  
  
"Well sorry, Tai." Joe said, sounding half sarcastic. "I guess it's just... just..." Joe stood dazed with Tai watching on.  
  
"My fear!" CyberDracomon whispered from his seat, hoping to save the scene. Joe shook his head, unable to hear. "Never mind, cut!" Cyber called. "Joe, this is the fifth time, do we have to get Gekomon out here with the cue cards?" Joe shook his head, a newvous look on his face.  
  
"Sorry, I'll get it right this time, I'm sure of it." Joe said confidentally. Cyber sat back in his seat, that being the fifth time Joe had said that.  
  
"Someone order lunch, we're going to be here for a while..." Cyber said. "Okay, take it from "I've still got a bad feeling about this."" Joe got back in place as the others awaited the cue. "And... action!" Cyber shouted, restarting the scene.  
  
"I've still got a bad feeling about this..." Joe said, joining Izzy in the center, holding out his Digivice. One by one, the rest walked up and held their Digivices out with all of them pointed up at the sky.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Joe." Tai said, trying to bring some confidence to his friend. "There's nothing to worry about, we've done this plenty of times." Tai was right, this used to be a weekly visit till high school hit them.  
  
"Well sorry, Tai." Joe said, sounding half sarcastic. "I guess it's just my fear of being tossed through dipent... aw, man..." Joe dropped his head, not believeing he stumbled on that line. CyberDracomon slapped his forhead, frustraited.  
  
**********  
  
Scene 3  
  
"Tai, what are you doing here?!" Agumon said eagerly. Tai was trying his best to get up before Agumon's excitement got out of hand."We thought we'd stop by!" Tai said, rolling Agumon off and standing up. "Besides, it's the first time we've all been available in a long time."  
  
"Um... we?" Agumon said, kind of confused. He looked around and saw what he meant. All the Digidestined were with their Digimon. Sora was sitting on the ground, hugging Biyomon. Izzy was already trading stories with Tentomon about the past two years. Joe was sitting by the river, trying to avoid being splashed by Gomamon. TK looked the most excited, chasing Patamon around the area and having some trouble catching the flying Digimon. Mimi was... the camera operator, Centarumon, panned the camera around, trying to find Mimi, but to no avail.  
  
"Oh, come on..." Cyber said from his director's chair. "Where's Mimi and Palmon?? All they had to do was stand their hugging!" The cybernetic dragon stood up and looked around, but neither were anywhere to be seen.  
  
"I think she said they left to get some bottled water." Sora said. Cyber shook his head in distress.  
  
"Alright then, we'll have to go with the stand-ins, we can't wait for those two to get back to finish the scene." Cyber waived to someone offstage, signaling them on the stage. After a minute Yolei walked onto the scene, dressed in a duplicate of Mimi's out fit without her glasses and her hair dyed brown. Behind her came an Auroramon with her petals painted pink, thankfully Palmon had a duplicate Digimon.  
  
"All set, CDM!" Yolei announced, taking Mimi's spot on the stage. Auroramon stood in front of her, just as eager to fill her role.  
  
"Always good to have back-up Digidestined..." Cyber said, retaking his seat. "Alright, people, from the top!" Everyone returned to their spots, with Yolei and Aroramon ready to steal the scene.  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 3: The Fallen Angel  
  
Scene 1  
  
"I understand, you're worried about your little sister." Izzy said. "I won't lie to you, Tai, it is possible that the link goes both ways, but it's just as possible TK and Kari are too young to have that link, or TK and Kari might already be in love for the past 2 years and really did pass it to their Digimon... or, yes, the link may be two way and they'll be in love at some point... could be minutes from now or even decades." All these different things were starting to mix Tai up. "It's just too mysterious of a thing to guess about. I'll get to work on it, though, Gennai might know something about it. I'll look into it as soon as I get these letters translated." Izzy returned to his work on his laptop, typing away at a program Tai never saw before. He knew Izzy had been trying to traanslate the ancient script, but it seemed to be working a lot faster in the Digiworld and decided to leave it at that and started to walk back towards Sora. Tai stopped in mid walk, waiting for his next cue, Izzy's computer signalling. He waited a few minutes, as did Izzy, but no sound.  
  
"Someone fire Vademon..." Cyber said, annoyed with the alien Digimon. He was about to continue when a small ring came from a sports bag. Cyber reached inside and pulled out a cel phone, slicking it open and putting it to his ear. "Hello, CyberDracomon here." He said. After a second a small smile came across his face.  
  
"Who's on the phone, CDM?" Izzy asked, who was trying to get the prop labtop to work. Cyber cupped his hand over the phone and looked at Izzy.  
  
"It's Lacey." Cyber said quietly. "Everyone take 5, I have to take this call..." With that Cyber returned the phone to his ear, still smiling gently. After a minute the smile diminished. "Sure thing, love..." With that he closed up the cel phone and returned it to his bag. "Someone remind me to pick up milk on the way home..." Cyber smiled nervously to his cast and crew, a few of which were giggling quietly.  
  
**********  
  
Scene 1 (later)  
  
"Guess someone up there doesn't like visitors..." Matt said, holding onto Mimi. Everyone looked up now, wondering what was up there. They didn't have to wonder long, though, seeing a new figure falling from above. The three Ultimates took to the air again, ready for whatever it was that was coming down. To everyone's surprise, what was coming down looked more human than Digimon. It sort of looked like Angemon, but with six dark wings and vicious looking armor. The human areas of him were a dark shade of skin and any part of him that would be white on Angemon was dark grey or black. Instead of a short staff, he was carrying a sickle with a black blade. His helmet featured small spikes instead of the small bumps on Angemon's helmet.  
  
"Impressive..." The black angel said. "But my lackies were nothing compaired to what you now face. I am..." Before he could continue a small snap was heard above him. Pacnicked, he looked up to see his support strings snapping. Before he could do anything the strings broke, dropping him all the way to the stange floor with a loud thud. "OW!!!" He screamed, laying on his back.  
  
"Cut!!" CyberDracomon shouted, looking upwards above the stage. A very nervous looking Puppetmon stood on a platform above the stage, the broken cords dangling from his fingertips. "I hired you because you're a pro at this, so why do I get ameture work?" Puppetmon shrugged, winging his strings back up into his fingers.  
  
"Sorry, I wasn't carved to take orders." Puppetmon said defiantly. CyberDracomon glared at the Mega, half tempted to fry him personally.  
  
"Well do the job right before I carve you into something that can take orders!" Cyber threatened. The puppet Digimon seemed to take the threat seriously, sending the strings back down to hook DarkAngemon back up. "You're lucky he's still okay, you know how hard it is to find a virus angel that can act?" Annoyed, Cyber leaned back in his seat, watching the scene get reset to run again.  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 4: Escape!  
  
The Digidestined and their Digimon were nearing the top of Infinity Mountain, still being lead by their captors, DarkAngemon's MetalMonochromon. The two in back were pushing anyone that fell too far behind while the two up front lead the way, one of them still holding Tai, wrapped in his chain. He was on his feet and could walk, but the metalic guard gave a tug every now and then to speed Tai up. They had surrendered out of fear for Tai's safety. Somehow DarkAngemon knew just how to get at their emotions and turn them against themselves.  
  
TK and Kari were almost in the back of the pack, being a little slower than the others. TK was holding Patamon in his arms, still really hurt from the fight and unable to walk of fly on his own. Gatomon was being carried by Kari, though she wasn't hurt as badly thanks to Patamon.  
  
"Hold it!!" Someone said from the front of the sound stage. CyberDracomon looked over his shoulder to see Davis, who had just barged through the main doors of the studio. "Why aren't I in this story??" Cyber stood from his seat, holding back an urge to barbeque Davis.  
  
"Read the Author's Note, Davis." Cyber said. "I started writing this story before you had a US name so I didn't use you." Davis still looked angry, not accepting the responce.  
  
"Neither did Yolei but she got a scene in the story!" Davis replied. Cyber glared down at the boy, who seemed to just now realize how big CyberDracomon was.  
  
"And if Tai needs a replacement, I'll send out for you." Cyber answered. "But until then, I don't need you." With that Cyber returned to his director's chair. "Now please leave before I cut you out of the sequel." Still angery, Davis stomped back outside, slamming the stage doors behind him.  
  
"Uh, CDM." Centarumon said from the camera. "You're not really going to put him in the sequel, are you?" Cyber looked toward Centarumon and shook his head.  
  
"Are you kidding?" He said. "After a stunt like that I'm tempted to write a second story about his death." Cyber turned toward the stage, focusing on the unfinished scene. "Okay, people, let's see if we can't salvage this scene." Everyone took a few steps back, getting in their original spots.  
  
"Hey, CDM!" A MetalMonochromon on stage shouted. He pulled off the helmet and mask to reveal a Tyrannomon underneath. "I'm having a hard time getting into character." Cyber shook his head to the actor.  
  
"You're doing fine, just keep the costume on." Cyber instructed. Tyrannomon returned the hood and helmet to their places and took his place as MetalMonochromon. "Okay, now let's try this again."  
  
**********  
  
Scene 4  
  
"Well TK..." Kari said, a slight smile on her face. "You know how much I hate you..." TK had the same smile on his face, slightly more mischevous though.  
  
"Yeah... Just as much as I hate you." Nobody from the main group could believe what they were hearing, it didn't sound like TK and Kari. Then what came next nearly killed them. Kari put her arms around TK's neck, with TK putting his arms around her waist. The two looked at each other quickly before pressing their lips together. The kiss had as much passion and love as two 12 year olds could manage for their first kiss. Patamon and Gatomon were looking on, glad thier human partners knew what they had. Sora and Mimi thought it was kind of cute, until they looked at their own boyfriends, who were flat on the ground from fainting at the sight.  
  
"Well..." Joe said, dazed. "If this is how they show their hate, I don't want to know how they show their love..." Everyone that heard the comment couldn't help but laugh a little.  
  
"Just think." Mimi said to Sora. "If TK and Kari keep this up for long, these two might be brothers!" Sora looked down at the two, still unconcious, then cracked up.  
  
"Okay, print it!" Cyber called from his seat. "Excellent people, just how we needed it! Human actors, take a break, get Triceramon and DarkAngemon in for the final scene." Most of the human actors moved off stage as the Gazimon stage hands quickly moved onto the set, getting ready to switch settings. Cyber smiled at how well that last scene went, then noticed something. TK and Kari were still on stage, still kissing wildly.  
  
"Hey, TK! Kari!" Cyber shouted to the two. "Scene's over, move off camera!" The two couldn't hear him, they were two deep into their scene. "Someone get a crowbar!!!" Cyber shouted as loud as he could. The two Digidestined finally broke apart, definatly hearing that warning.  
  
"Sorry, CDM!" Kari said, blushing. "Guess we kind of got too into character there..." TK was blushing just as badly as Kari, making Cyber laugh a little.  
  
"Relax, it helps the story that you two are really in love." Cyber explained. "I'm just glad you stopped before I had to change the story's rating." TK and Kari both smiled nervously, then started to go off stage when CyberDracomon extended a wing in front of them, keeping them there. "Actually I have an idea for one last part to the scene, care to get some extra camera time?" The two humans looked at each other, then nodded, eager to hog the spotlight.  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 5: Power Unleashed  
  
Scene 3  
  
Back at the base of the mountain, most of the Digidestined and their Digimon were awake. Only TK, Kari, Patamon and Gatomon were missing from the group, but they guessed they were still asleep. The humans of the group were trying to decide how to stop DarkAngemon and guessed on what that greatest power was supposed to be while their Digimon listened in for whatever the final plan was going to be.  
  
"I still think we've got the greatest power." Tai said, looking around at the group. "We just don't know what exactly it is." Matt resisted the urge to start a shouting match with Tai.  
  
"Tai, we threw everything we had at him and he didn't even get scratched!" Matt said. "Whatever power that prophecy's talking about, we don't have it." Tai wanted to yell back so bad, but knew it wouldn't help much.  
  
"Wait, hold it!" Someone backstage shouted. From the back area, Cody ran out onto the scene, looking at CyberDracomon. "Mimi just found out about being switched with Yolei, she's ready to kill her!" CyberDracomon slapped his forhead in frustration.  
  
"Why do actresses always have to be so competative." Cyber comaplined to himself. He looked behind him at an Ogremon loungeing around by the refreshment tables. "Go pull the two apart before I need two replacement actresses." Ogremon dropped a doughnut in surprise, then picked up his bone club.  
  
"Aw, do I have to break it up right away?" Ogremon asked. Cyber glared at him fiercely, scaring the brute Digimon a bit. "Alright, alright, I'm going!" With that Ogremon ran off to the dressing room area. Cyber looked back toward the set to see Cody still standing there looking at him. "Something else, Cody?" He asked the young boy.  
  
"Well I heard you mentioning a sequel to Davis..." Cody said shyly. "Think there's any room for me in there?" Cyber smiled, impressed the youngest Digidestined would have the guts to ask.  
  
"I'll see what I can do." The dragon replied. With that Cody walked off stage again, leaving the set cleared to continue the scene.  
  
**********  
  
Scene 8  
  
"Kari, please!" TK said, almost crying. "Don't do this, this isn't like you! You can't do this!" Kari hesitated, then grinned.  
  
"Alright then." Kari said, but she didn't let go or drop her fist. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't!" TK couldn't think right now, his mind was spinning from all this. He took a deep breath to try his best though.  
  
"Kari, I never lied to you, I meant everything I said..." TK started. "I really do love you more than anything and nothing can change that... not even this... and I meant it when I said I'd always be with you..." Kari's eyes seemed to flash and fade from gold to the familiar crimson brown, but the spell was too strong and her eyes eventually became solid gold again.  
  
"Nice try..." Kari said, clenching her fist tighter. "You should have tried harder!" With that Kari brought her fist down fast. Unfortunatly it was too fast, nailing TK in the nose.  
  
"Ow!!" Tk yelled, reaching up to cover his face. Kari stood up, a shocked look on her face.  
  
"Oh, TK, I'm sorry!" Kari said. "I didn't mean to punch so fast, you're supposed to roll out of the way!" CyberDracomon rolled his eyes from his director's chair.  
  
"Relax, Kari, I don't think you killed him." Cyber said. "We needed to stop there, anyway, and remove those amber contacts, you don't have them after this scene." Kari nodded, then put her hands to her eyes carefully. Eventually she looked back up at Cyber, her regular brown eyes showing, with two tinted contact lenses in her hand. A Bakemon floated by, taking the contacts and floating off to return them to the makeup area.  
  
"Let me guess, we have to try that again?" TK said, still dazed on the ground. Cyber shook his head at the young boy.  
  
"Relax, a few camera tricks and all we have to retake is Kari throwing that punch, just a little slower this time, though..." Kari smiled nervously, taking her place again. TK didn't seem as eager to attempt the stunt again, though.  
  
**********  
  
Scene 8 (later)  
  
"You underestimated them because they were the youngest, but you never saw they are also the strongest." Enraged, DarkAngemon drew his sickle and swung at Angewomon, only to have her rainbow arrow pierce through it, destroying it.  
  
"Blast!" DarkAngemon screamed. "This is my game! You can't win!" DarkAngemon flew at MagnaAngemon and fired his Hand of Destruction close up, but it had little effect as MagnaAngemon flew through it and slashed DarkAngemon hard with his beam sword, throwing him back through the air.  
  
"Game over!" MagnaAngemon yelled, raising his sword into the air. He circled it around like he was performing Gate of Destiny, but the white ring of energy stayed there, with MagnaAngemon still holding his sword where the ring connected. Angewomon flew up behind him and crossed her arms, then threw them to her sides, firing a white version of her Heaven's Charm at MagnaAngemon and the energy ring. Somehow the attacks fused, creating a silver Gate. MagnaAngemon stabbed through it with his sword, opening the gate.   
  
"Heaven's Light!" MagnaAngemon and Angewomon shouted at the same time. Unfortunatly as the gate lit up, only a small, dim beam of light came out, stopping on DarkAngemon's chest.  
  
"Wait a second..." Cyber said, standing from his chair. He walked on stage and looked into the gate to see a Gazimon inside pointing a flashlight at DarkAngemon. "What happened to my special effects guy?? I was paying that Monochromon good Digidollars!" Gazimon looked nervously at the cyber dragon, turning off the flashlight.  
  
"Sorry, he quit yesterday." Gazimon announced. "Something about a better gig on one of Kale's productions." Cyber grumbled as he walked back to his chair, sitting back down low in it.  
  
"These people are supposed to be professionals, instead I get ametuers..." He complained to himself. "Alright, someone find a new special effects guy or a bigger flashlight..."  
  
**********  
  
Scene 9  
  
"TK, promise me something..." Kari said, opening her eyes again. "Promise that we'll be together forever, no matter what..." TK smiled at the idea.  
  
"I promise..." TK said, this time completely sure of his words. "But just in case, can I make it longer if I want?" Kari couldn't help but laugh a little.  
  
"Sure..." Kari answered, closing her eyes and leaning back on TK. "I couldn't imagine being any happier than I am now..."  
  
"Neither can I..." TK answered, closing his eyes and leaning back on the tree. The two fell asleep there, under the light of the Digiworld's moon. Neither one had any doubts their lives couldn't get any better than they were now. For the first time in a while, everything was perfect.  
  
The End  
  
"Alright people, that's a wrap!" Cyber announced, grinning. "Great job everyone! ...um, everyone?" Cyber looked toward the stage to see the cast of Digidestined and Digimon had really fallen asleep. He looked behind him only to see the same from his Digimon crew. The cybernetic dragon rolled his eyes at the sight. "Guess my endings need to be a bit more attention-grabbing... "Fine, I'm going to start on the sequel, anyone who doesn't want to be in it, just keep sleeping." With that CyberDracomon left the sound stage, shutting off the lights as he left, leaving them all to their slumber.  
  
End of out takes reel  
  
Yeah, I just did this to be silly. I wanted to do something funny for a change and this is also a way of giving attention to my oldest story. As hinted from this special chapter, a sequel to The Greatest Power is on it's way soon. I didn't even plan on it, it just kind of hit me as a flash of inspiration. That's how things go in fanfics, though, right? It's called Dawn Of Destiny, so keep an eye out for it! Until then! ^_^  
  
CyberDracomon  



End file.
